


Writhes In Agony Of The Spirit

by Drakey



Series: Landscapes [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aangxiety, Anxiety, F/F, F/M, Forgiveness, Gen, Genderfluid Toph, M/M, Momo With A Knife, Multi, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, There Very Much Is A War In Ba Sing Se Long Feng You Dessicated Plate Of Noodles, Trauma, Various Neurodivergent Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25981573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drakey/pseuds/Drakey
Summary: The plan is to meet up in Ba Sing Se in a month, but something... may be very wrong with Ba Sing Se. Iroh and Jee take a week longer to get there than they expect, and when they arrive, there's no Avatar in sight.The plan is to go to Ba Sing Se and start their lives over. Jet is sure he'll finally find his soulmate there, but instead, he finds a strange old man on the ferry who offers him a place to stay.The plan is to search for the allies they've had to abandon in Ba Sing Se, but Suki hates the city with a deep, powerful passion. Maybe the Avatar can help to fix it, but there's a Fire Lord to kill first.The plan is to get to Ba Sing Se eventually, but they're traveling with Aang, so of course there's a million delays. At least the city itself will be a nice break from all the chaos, right?
Relationships: Iroh & The Gaang (Avatar), Jin/Suki, Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Landscapes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1871992
Comments: 182
Kudos: 210





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo! Here we are with part 2! We're picking up five weeks after part 1!
> 
> If you want to scream incoherently because of the presence of Jet, you can find me on Tumblr @momo-with-a-knife

_The food for the Half Moon Ferry is generously donated from the overstock of the following Ba Sing Se restaurants,_ declares the brochure before showing a list of places with names like “Thirsty Badgermole” and “Turtlewhale's Feast Buffet,” all of which Jet wants to burn down. That kind old man down on the main deck might be willing to eat garbage, but the last time Jet ate this poorly was right after his village was leveled.

And besides, he's _irritable._ There's a skinned patch on his right knee, which now aches like mad, and stinging abrasions all over both of his hands, and he woke up with a bloody nose yesterday, apparently all from the same incident. When he finds scars-girl, he's going to wrap her in a million layers of cushioning so this will _stop. Fucking. Happening._ She's so damn clumsy she'd probably trip over nothing, but the worst he's ever given _her_ is from that time Katara scraped his face along a tree to try to stop him from fighting the Fire Nation. A big, ugly scrape scar that they've both got on their left cheek now. Not that the pain has stopped him from doing exactly what he wants. He taps the old man on the shoulder, and without any signs of surprise, the old man goes from staring forlornly at a loaf of “bread” to smiling at him. 

Apparently, “willing” to eat garbage isn't the same thing as “eager” to eat garbage.

“Hello, young man,” the oldster says. His eyes dart to the package in Jet's left hand, then back to Jet's face. “I am pleased to see you again. I was worried that you might do something foolish in your anger at our captain.”

“I think he was right to be angry,” Mister Lee says, stepping up behind Jet. “I don't think he did anything foolish, either, Mushi. This ferry doesn't really have security so much as a couple of stern guys who think they're in charge.”

The old man—Mushi—shakes his head. “Ah, Lee, it is only the ferry into the city. After all we have been through to get to Ba Sing Se, I would think a little moldy food is nothing. I suppose you helped our young friend?”

“And my friends,” Jet says. Longshot and Smellerbee should be arriving with the rest of their haul about now.

Mushi's eyes flick behind Jet, confirming that the Freedom Fighters have pulled off another successful strike against oppression. The old man nods, and when Jet sets down the food, there are looks from all around, and Mushi says, cheerfully, “then let us share our good fortune. Everyone here has had a hard journey. Something good to eat can soothe the pain of a long march!”

He also says it loudly. People are staring, now, and lips are being licked, and Jet says “Smellerbee is still growing. She gets double. And it probably won't feed everyone.”

“Of course,” Mushi says. “We should feed the youngest first.” He laughs. “The food will probably run out before I get any, if we go in that order!” He smiles weakly at his bread. “It does not matter, though. I have eaten worse.”

Jet oversees the passing out of the food. He's not entirely sure how, but this old man has definitely just manipulated him. He sits down across from the man, and he takes his little sliver of roast turtleduck and his tiny piece of fruit, and he passes the fruit to the old man because that's what ~~Zuko~~ a kind person would do.

~~Fuck. Still thinking of Zuko when he has a whole entire soulmate to find? What's wrong with him?~~

~~Maybe throwing away the stupid lock of hair will help.~~

~~But fuck that.~~

“So, I'm Jet,” Jet says.

Mushi smiles. “I know. No, don't get up; your fame precedes you. I have family who traveled through the town of Gaipan before that horrible flood. My nephew mentioned meeting a young man with a pair of shuang gou swords who fought the Fire Nation there. He said you were 'very cool,' but he was very young, and we half believed he had made you up. But you are the spitting image of the young man he described!”

Jet looks between Mushi and Mister Lee. Mister Lee smiles like a strict man granting a tiny mercy. Jet hopes he didn't twitch at the mention of the flood. It drove the Fire Nation out of the valley, but then the whole town came after them, and now...

“The flood ended our fight there,” Jet says. “Most of the Freedom Fighters left. It's just me, Longshot, and Smellerbee now, so we figured we should go to Ba Sing Se, try to do some good there.”

“And you have made a fine start.” Mushi gestures around at all the people, some of them digging into bad food, some of them tucking it (or the good food) away for later, a few happily throwing the bad food overboard. Eyes flick to his own, multiple pairs. More than he expects. “I have some connections in Ba Sing Se that will help me find a home. If you like, I could ask around for you, as well. It sounds to me like you are caring for your friends, and a nice girl like Smellerbee should have a nice home.”

Jet wants to say no. He _should_ say no. Except... Smellerbee and Longshot are both giving him the look they gave him after Zuko left.

Jet makes himself smile. “That would be very nice of you.”

+

The General's connections in Ba Sing Se aren't exactly the best the White Lotus has to offer. Jee has researched and read and struggled and finally learned two things: the Dai Li quashes secret societies with ruthless efficiency, and it's all Avatar Kyoshi's fault. A week and a half of waiting while his General cooled his heels in a prison, months of a shipful of unfamiliar warriors, that town that ran them out for knowing the Avatar, and now the Dai Li... Avatar Kyoshi certainly left her mark on the world. Unfortunately, it's a mark that is perfectly placed to get in Jee's way at every single turn.

The woman who meets them on the other side of the intake gate is a dowdy, ancient monument to outdated Earth Kingdom style.

“Ma Seyo!” the General cries when he sees her, and he hurries forward to embrace her while his new collection of unruly teens watches. “I haven't seen you since Gaoling!”

“Mushi!” she cries back, exactly as though they have ever met before in their lives (Jee was there at Goaling. They barely even stopped. If this woman was there, she would have been far away from them because the only time the General has been to Gaoling was at the head of a conquering army that raided the farms and moved on). “You little scamp, where have you been?”

“Oh, around,” the General says, guiding Ma Seyo to their ragtag group. “We spent some time up north, but when Fire Nation soldiers started to wash up on the beach, we thought it might be time to take a boat here. Imagine my surprise when they wouldn't let us dock!” He points to Jee. “Of course you remember my husband—” the cover story was Sokka's idea: no one will suspect an elderly same-sex couple of being secret firebenders. “And along the way, we picked up these charming young people. This is Jet, and Longshot, and the young lady is Smellerbee.”

Jet and the Ruffians wave awkwardly. Ma Seyo nods at them. “I thought it would just be you and Lee.”

“It would have been, but they are good people.” The General shows her his White Lotus tile, and she sighs.

“If they're really good people, then I'll find them a place as well. Of course, you and Lee could always just take them in yourselves.”

“I would certainly be willing to give them a place to stay if it takes you a while to find something for them, but I think that's up to them.” The General gives Ma Seyo his best charming smile.

Crap. 

Jee is about to adopt a bunch of Ruffians. 

+

Before she met the Avatar, Azula had never failed her father. What happened at Crescent Island is forgivable. One failure because of a surprise attack can happen to anyone. Six Piers Burning was Admiral Kebab's failure, not Azula's, and she has never once worried about bearing the blame for it. The debacle at the Bay of Weeping Mothers isn't even a failure so much as an incomplete success, and once again, Kebab's fault, not hers (she's really, really, really glad he's dead now).

The Northern Water Tribe, though...

Azula doesn't like to talk about ~~the fact that her own brother tried to drown her, and she swam for what felt like miles through icy water only to emerge into a corpse-strewn waste of reeking failure and she was _afraid,_ dammit, and nothing should be allowed to scare her, but there it is, anyway~~ that.

A hundred ships. A fleet big enough to take the city three times. A strategy so solid it could take the city _five times._ Every single Yuyan Archer. 

Father hasn't been so generous about that one. _“At least Zhao had the good graces to die while he was failing so completely.”_

It's a wonder she's still alive, after how angry Father was. She's fairly sure one or two of the servants didn't survive his wrath.

But none of that matters now. She's going to find the Avatar, she's going to kill her brother as brutally as she possibly can, and she's going to come back triumphant and hopefully with the head of some powerful Earth Kingdom general or something.

It's Ty Lee's idea, actually. After the Omashu fiasco, she and Mai have been... actually pretty helpful. And as far as Azula knows, the Avatar and his idiot friends and her idiot brother think she's dead. It made the whole Omashu thing a lot easier in the end, even if it did suck completely until then. The Avatar won't be learning earthbending from the crazy old king of Omashu, even if they're not allowed to kill the annoying, decrepit piece of Earth Kingdom trash.

That means he still has to find an earthbending master, and there are very few of those who aren't on the front lines or in a Fire Nation prison.

He's going to end up in Ba Sing Se.

So maybe...

Maybe instead of a general, Azula can bring back the head of the Earth King himself for Father. The Earth King and Zuzu's severed heads in a basket and the Avatar in a cage.

It's a soothing thought.

+

Ba Sing Se seems like as good a destination as any. At the least, the Kyoshi Warriors will be able to regroup there, and they should be able to offer their services as soldiers and bodyguards, which _should_ get them in good with the nobles, which _should_ get them in good with the Earth King himself which _SHOULD_ let them get back in touch with ~~Sokka~~ the Avatar and his group ~~that's a _shitload_ of shoulds, though, and Suki can't shake the feeling it's going to get them all killed.~~

So, when they finish taking out the Fire Nation occupiers in Huai Tong Cang, Suki gathers the girls around. 

The weeks since the sinking of the _Snapdragon_ have been hard on them. They're down to Suki, Bon Lin, Sohi, Imbon, Shi, and Wori. The others have been wounded and had to be left behind, or died on the _Snapdragon,_ or chose to stay in one village or another, or even gone back to Kyoshi Island. Of course, six Kyoshi Warriors is still a major force, powerful and dangerous. 

It's just...

“I think we should head straight to Ba Sing Se from here,” Suki says. “No more of these distractions.”

“Isn't that dangerous?” Bon Lin asks nervously.

Suki shrugs. “Yeah, it is. We're going to have to cover a lot of ground very quickly, and we're going to have to go through some of the heaviest Fire Nation occupations.”

Sohi, the youngest one left in the group, nods seriously. “We're with you the whole way, Suki.”

Suki takes a quick survey, meeting the eyes of her warriors one by one and only moving on when she gets a nod back. 

“Okay,” Suki says. “So that makes our next destination... um...” Wori is keeping the maps, and she pulls them out to let the girls all pore over them. She points. “There. We'll go through Chou Gou, skirt the Si Wong Desert here, to the north, and cross into Ba Sing Se at the Thirtieth Gate.”

“How much longer will that take us?” Sohi asks.

Suki studies the map. “If we're very fast, and we can get ostrich horses... maybe two weeks? But it'll probably be more like a month.”

Shi nods. “We should get started then. And Suki... I think I have a plan to get ostrich-horses.”

Suki inspects her for a few moments, searching Shi's face for an indication of why she's hesitant about that. “How illegal is it?” Suki asks.

Shi grins. “It's super illegal.”

Okay, so it'll be fun.


	2. Chapter 2

Gaoling is so far off of their intended course that Sokka kinda wants to cry a little. The whole... swamp interlude basically killed their schedule, and now they're a whole week late. Not a week _behind._ Late.

Zuko is the only thing holding him together at this point. Zuko and the fact that they've finally been able to send one of Uncle's ridiculous convoluted coded pai sho letters.

Naturally, Aang is simultaneously having a blast and having a crisis.

“Master Yu isn't going to work out,” Aang says sadly when they pick him up from the lesson, and _no shit, Aang, the Avatar isn't about to learn earthbending from a fucking neighborhood hedge-bender_ which Sokka carefully does not say because Aang is clearly feeling fragile and also he looks like he has an idea, which suspicion he confirms by detailing something called Earth Rumble VI that looks ~~fucking incredible~~ like a total waste of time. “I bet I'll be able to find an earthbending master there!”

An earthbending fighting tournament... might actually have someone who can teach Aang.

“An earthbending fighting tournament... might actually have someone who can teach Aang,” Zuko says.

Crap. They're justifying it now. Sokka does his best to be serious as he accedes to the demands of his soulmate and the Avatar. “I'll have you know I'm only doing this for Aang,” he says. “We'll go _once_ and then we have to go to Ba Sing Se. We're going to have to cross that huge desert at this rate, you know. We've lost so much time, between the swamp and that thing with King Bumi and whatever that big Fire Nation tank thing was. I am going along with this _under protest,_ okay?”

+

So there's a guy in the stands who's been cheering _way_ too loud. Several times, Toph has considered wrapping some stone around his mouth. They don't do it, mostly because, as much as Toph Beifong would love to shut this guy up, _The Blind Bandit_ is above things like assaulting their opponents' fans.

They almost change their mind when some kid from next to him in the stands makes his(? gender is ambiguous enough for people she talks to regularly—maybe it's an eyeballs thing, maybe it's a people-who-are-neither-The-Blind-Bandit-nor-Toph thing—and while loud-stands-guy is signaling “I'm-a-dude” really hard, this kid is small and light on their feet, but also Toph can't feel any hair. They've got about a jillion different indicators going on, and also they are stupid light on their feet) debut, and loud-stands-guy starts screaming “Kick her butt, Aang!”

And then "Aang" completely whoops Toph's butt. Blind Bandit is out, Toph Beifong is back, and Toph Beifong is deeply pissed off. She clambers to her feet and hurries out before anyone, especially _Aang,_ can talk to her, because if that was earthbending, it was earthbending like she's never encountered before. She goes home pissy, bends the dummy her parents have been fooled by for three years because they don't actually care out of her bed with a stomp, and takes its place, fully intending to angry-sleep until the morning.

This does not happen, because she has just drifted off when the first two fingers on her right hand get burned _again_ and she yowls and sits up.

Toph brings her fingers to her lips and probes the injury. Her parents tell her this is a strange thing to do, so she does it anytime she can in front of them. Also it works. Badgermoles are a source of endless wisdom, and one of the best things they've taught her is _“If your feet can't see it, your lips can.”_

The burn is splashy, like all seven of the ones that have cropped up recently, like that time Toph spilled hot tea on their hand ~~and then Dad said “I _told_ you to let someone else do it for you!”~~ The burn isn't bad, but it stings like a bitch, and Toph can no longer angry-sleep, so they change into their stupid outfit and they go to the front room and who should pop in on the Beifong estate that evening but fucking Aang and Loudmouth, along with a girl who introduces herself as Katara and a boy who Loudmouth is _so_ getting it on with on the regular.

Aside from Loudmouth, all of these visitors are probably benders. Between their smell, the way they move, and the way they talk, benders stand out, and when Toph thinks someone is a bender, they're right a little more than half the time. When they think someone _isn't_ a bender, they're right most of the time.

Also, the lot of them try to expose Toph's secret identity, which is just awful. She flees to the gardens as soon as the Idiot Squad (“I'm the Avatar and I want you to teach me earthbending” as if) is out of the house. 

Aang comes back. He approaches Toph across the gardens, and he stops in front of her. She could kill him if she wanted, ~~except he kicked her ass earlier~~ but he's right there in front of her, and he's obviously not afraid of her, like, at all. “What?” Toph growls.

“I know you're good,” Aang says. “You're the Blind Bandit.”

Toph rolls her eyes. Her parents make her wear a veil all the fuckin time because they suck, and that means he can't catch the scorn that she's worked so hard to learn. He just keeps standing, probably staring, probably smiling because he seems like a smiler.

“Sorry,” Toph says, and they pull the veil up to roll their eyes again.

Aang gasps. He reaches out, and Toph catches his hand before he can touch their face. His heart speeds up a little. Startled. “Sorry, it's just... I think I've met your soulmate.”

“My _what?”_ Toph says. They've heard of soulmates, obviously, but only in the loosest terms. Mom and Dad refuse to address the topic, and what's Toph gonna do, read a book? They only know one thing for sure. “I don't have a soulmate.”

“Yeah?” Aang says. “Where did this come from?” He raises up a hand, and Toph assumes he's pointing.

“My face? I've had that my whole life,” Toph says.

“No, the mark...” Aang touches her left cheek gently. He lowers his hand. “How often do you get injuries that just show up out of nowhere?”

Toph gives him the finger. Specifically, their right middle finger, with the burn on it. Curling down their index finger makes it hurt worse, but being obscene in ways that would make Daddy have a stroke is worth it. “A lot.”

“Right,” Aang says. “I have to tell you about what happened at this town called Gaipan.”

+

Jet is... disappointing specifically when it comes to tea. He spills on himself twice, touches a hot teapot _way_ too close to the flames four times, and manages to ruin the least delicate blend in the shop all in the first two days, and Iroh gently suggests he find different work. Apparently, Jet can't handle hot things. The Zuko Incident really should have been an indicator. Smellerbee is decent in customer service, although sometimes a little clumsy. Longshot is the most astonishingly precise person Iroh has ever met. If he were Fire Nation, he would be a Yuyan Archer. If he were a bender, he could roast the left front leg off a flea at half a mile. He's the only one who doesn't burn himself at all, so Iroh puts him in the back of the shop.

Iroh is enjoying his time in Ba Sing Se. The tea shop he's found work in was struggling until he showed up, but now people seem to be really enjoying it. Smellerbee does surprisingly well with customer service, and although Longshot isn't a talker (Iroh has heard his voice twice in more than a week and suspects talking may be painful for him for some reason), he's excellent in the kitchen. Together, they're such a good team that the shop almost doesn't need Iroh.

Almost. Iroh is still the best at choosing teas for the indecisive and giving advice to people who feel lost, and both of those things need to happen a lot in a tea shop.

Still, Iroh is very worried until he comes upstairs (Jet is asleep on one of the couches, exhausted after a day of what he claims was warehouse work. He's lying) to find Jee reading a letter. Jee smiles at him. “Your opponent in Ten Sing has gotten back to you,” he says.

ZUKO! This is a letter from Zuko. Or, more accurately, from Sokka, who is handling the Avatar's communications with the White Lotus. Iroh takes the letter when Jee offers it. Jet is stirring, so Iroh remembers to say “Thank you, dear” before he sits down to read.

Jet makes that noise that he thinks Iroh doesn't know means Jet think Jee and Iroh are a cute couple. He will probably be sad to find they aren't if he ever learns the truth. Iroh also suspects that Jee will b ~~e sad t~~ o see the deception end, which is a conversation to have at a later date if ever Jee seems comfortable having it. Maybe he can do something nice for him.

Their apartment provides good light for reading, facing the street to the south so that plenty of light comes in the windows. The rooms are spacious and have a nice open floorplan, with enough space for a pai sho table and a single couch and plenty of cushions, and a good little kitchen.

The letter is short and to the point: They have been sidetracked by urging from the spirits, attacks from the Fire Nation, and an ill-fated attempt to scout Omashu. As of four days ago, they were in or around Gaoling, and following up a lead on an earthbending teacher for Aang. They're planning to cross the Si Wong Desert on Appa (where they should be right now) and expect to arrive only a few days after their letter.

Iroh's heart soars. He will see his precious nephew again. He will see Zuko, and Zuko will bring Sokka (who is the last person to have legitimately beaten Iroh in pai sho), and he will see Aang and Katara, and also he will see whoever this earthbender they are picking up might be. He will serve tea, and they'll all have time to talk and be together.

“What are you reading?” Jet asks blearily.

Iroh goes to the pai sho table, moves the tiles that correspond to the letter, and says “a friend of mine has sent me a letter with his latest turn.” Jee hands him a sheet of paper; he has already sketched out the configuration. “Come, Jet. Look at the table and tell me what you see.”

Jet looks down at the scattered tiles. Longshot comes into the apartment while he is staring and trails a friendly hand over his shoulders in greeting. Smellerbee repeats the gesture a few moments later, except that she also plucks a stalk of grass from the overgrown planter box outside and pops it into Jet's mouth. His brain seems to restart with something to chew on. 

“These aren't great moves. Look, he's built up the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth lotus for you. All you have to do is build the fifth and then open them. You'll win in two turns. Maybe three.” Jet points to each of the lotus tiles as he names them.

“That is what the Fire Nation Secret Forest rules say, but we are playing by Northern Water Tribe rules. The lotus blooms only once for each player. Look here.” He points to the southern Earth Kingdom part of the board, where the Bent Tree and the Snapdragon lend each other their support. “The Bent Tree is a powerful tile if you use it right, and my friend has placed it where he will be able to promote it soon.”

Jet chews on his stalk of grass, and finally, he says “I don't know Northern Water Tribe rules. I thought you were teaching me Secret Forest.”

Iroh nods. “I am. There are hundreds of different ways to play pai sho. It is said that someone who masters them all will reach enlightenment, but the Eastern and Southern Air Nomad rules are lost.”

“What does reaching enlightenment even mean?” Jet asks as Longshot thrusts a cup of fruity oolong under his nose. He perks up and takes the cup.

Iroh laughs. “I have no idea! There are many things that promise to bring enlightenment, but no one defines it the same as anyone else.”

Smellerbee chimes in from across the room “enlightenment is when you have six knives and the enemy has none.” Jee snorts. Jet laughs so hard his tea slops over the side of his cup and burns him. He yelps and twitches so badly he splashes most of the rest out, and Iroh hurries to fetch cool water. Jet is _very_ bad with tea.


	3. Chapter 3

Jet's hand is wrapped in a bandage when he goes out again. The streets of Ba Sing Se _feel_ seedy and unwelcoming, but so far he's seen nothing wrong. He's even picked up a little bit of actual warehouse work, just like he tells Mushi and Mister Lee.

He doesn't have anything lined up today. Today, he just clambers to the top of the tallest whatever he can find and he looks out over the city. From here, he can see almost to the outer wall, its towering peak lost somewhere in the vast distance. Earth Kingdom maps tend to exaggerate the size of Ba Sing Se. The city demands so much of the surrounding countryside that there aren't any towns closer than Half Moon Port, but the walls aren't _actually_ five hundred miles apart. More like fifteen. That still makes the whole city almost two hundred miles across, the sort of accomplishment that doesn't happen on purpose, but rather gradually, over the course of centuries. 

And somewhere in all that, theoretically, is Jet's soulmate. The Girl. The clumsy one who keeps getting hurt. He'll have to rely on fate to get them together. He's tried searching, but it's like searching an entire country. It might even be worse than that.

His left hand toys with the bracelet on his right wrist. It's Zuko's hair, braided and tied and woven.

Zuko was a firebender. Still is, maybe, unless he's dead. Jet wanted to hate him, but the thing is that Zuko was... 

Zuko was _better_ than him, in just about every way. And Jet can't deny that Zuko was really working with the Avatar. Aang erased any doubts he had about that pretty handily when he found out Zuko and Sokka were in the town.

Jet rubs at the scar on his cheek. Yeah, that wasn't fun.

~~He's pretty sure he fell in love with Zuko that night in the trees.~~

Sometimes, Jet wants to give up. Go be normal. No shuang gou, no Freedom Fighters, no soulmate. Work every day in a warehouse or a shop (not a tea shop. He can't even _drink_ the stuff without burning himself sometimes. He's just... bad at handling hot things. Witness Zuko), find a nice girl or a nice boy or both or someone who isn't either or any combination thereof and just... settle down. Save up money, get a nice house in the middle ring, have some kids someday, never even hear about the Avatar again. It would be amazing.

But then he remembers Zuko, and the thrill, and the way it feels to _fight_ for what he wants.

Ba Sing Se won't be forever. Smellerbee and Longshot deserve what he can give them here, but Ba Sing Se will kill him slowly if he lets it. He's going to find his soulmate, and she's going to go with him when he leaves.

Maybe they'll take down the Fire Nation together. Probably not while working with the Avatar, but it might even end up that way in the end.

Probably he won't be with Zuko. Probably Sokka and Zuko will be together. They're soulmates, after all. Maybe they're even betrothed by now. Sokka is fifteen, but for soulmates... Jet has collected stories since he learned what he and The Girl are to each other. Sokka is Water Tribe. Who knows what kinds of commitment ceremonies they have, and they were going to the Northern Water Tribe _“We can't stay long, though, we have to get to the North. No Katara, that means no staying for a week to drive out the Fire Nation.”_

There is a commotion on the street below. Jet pulls his legs up under him and looks down. A young man waves his arms, shouting, “You can't silence me! You know I'm right! The war is real! It's real and we're losing! How long before the Fire Nation is in our city? They might even be here right now!” Two men in green approach, round hats mostly obscuring them. They gesture, and stone erupts from their hands to catch the speaker's wrists, to clamp around his mouth.

They drag him away.

Jet watches where they go. He gets up, quietly.

People with soulmates are supposed to have destinies, right?

He follows the earthbenders and their victim.

Jet's destiny is, always has been, and always will be to fight oppression, and here's some nice, obvious oppression.

Hey, maybe he'll even meet his soulmate on this mission. That would be amazing, him and The Girl, working side by side, ready to take on some rot at the heart of Ba Sing Se. Maybe this place is more interesting than he thought, maybe he'll be able to stick around for a while.

Yeah.

Things are looking up.

+

Suki stares at the distant wall. The Thirtieth Gate isn't clearly marked. The Gates of Ba Sing Se have never been marked. A few are at the end of a road, or they have little shanty-towns around them, but they're not marked, except for the first, fiftieth, and hundredth gates. The thirtieth gate isn't even at the end of a road. Its location isn't secret, but it also isn't talked about very often, largely because the overland route that leads to it is rarely used.

Their ostrich horses take off running at a good clip, and Suki smiles. She's been to Ba Sing Se before. Twice, actually. Once when she was very young, and once shortly after she became the head of the Kyoshi Warriors. 

It sucks.

The place is a cesspit right up until the inner districts, where it becomes a _metaphorical_ cesspit. Walking into the lower ring is a memorable experience because the walls trap the smell (they also interfere with the atmosphere. Ba Sing Se doesn't get normal weather: the air is always stale, some spots never get rained on, some spots develop into little rain traps, and the whole city actually has to open up during heavy rains or snowfall in order to prevent flooding), whereas walking into the upper ring is overwhelming because all of the air is perfumed. It makes anyone who isn't originally from either the upper ring or nobility someplace else extremely uncomfortable. 

Naturally, nobles love to drag their kids there. The sort of people who give their family a name based off of the estate they own, like the Koshos, Vinns, and Beifongs. 

Ugh. The Beifongs. The Beifong family is terrible. During Suki's last visit, even their adorable little kid had been seven different kinds of awful. Admittedly, five of them would have been kind of excellent on a Kyoshi Warrior, but something about a blind child confidently calling you out for being unkempt is just...

They spend most of a day crossing the plains, and when they arrive at the Thirtieth Gate, an earthbender stops them with an upraised hand. Suki dismounts to bring the woman their credentials. There are a few moments of quiet, and Suki wonders for a moment if they're about to be turned away. What she doesn't expect is for the bender to hand back the papers with deep scowl and say “you'll be leaving your war behind. There is no war in Ba Sing Se.”

Suki frowns. “So I guess you're full up on bodyguards, huh?” she jokes, a little feebly.

“There is plenty of work for soldiers,” the bender replies. “But none of it is war.”

Suki resists the urge to turn and leave. General Iroh is here somewhere. Probably. 

The bender lets them in, and it's easy to sell off ostrich horses at one of the farms inside the outer wall. Suki takes her last breath of fresh-ish air for probably a day or two, and she savors it before they go into the lower ring.

Ba Sing Se sucks _so bad._ The smell on the other side is body odor and human waste and rot and spices and something that Suki will not swear _isn't_ hopelessness. Five beggars accost her, three of them with visible burns, but there is no war in Ba Sing Se, so those burns must just be a coincidence.

They stop at a (terrible) tavern to get the lay of the land, and the place is so thick with incense smoke that Suki's eyes sting and water, but they do hear that refugees from the definitely-not-a-war are mostly coming in from Half Moon Bay, and that's a place to start.

A sucky, smelly place to start. It's also _hours_ on the monorail. 

They'll get a room somewhere nearby, and then they'll head out in the morning.

Just... not a room here.

They end up at a place a little closer to the inner wall of the ring and a lot closer to one of the big monorail hubs, and even though the city reeks so absolutely that Suki wants to cry when she smells it, she's so exhausted from the day that she collapses into sleep almost right away. 

The walk to the monorail with five bleary, out-of-uniform Kyoshi Warriors in the morning is punctuated by hot tea in thick mugs bent out of a block of stone and pastries that taste like there is a war in Ba Sing Se after all, it's just a war between spices that don't belong in pastries. By the third one of those, an hour into her ride on the monorail (Inbon and Wori both gave theirs up, and Suki will not judge them for that), Suki is afraid the pastries might be an _acquired taste_ and she elects to not acquire them.

The refugee gate is spitting out a steady stream of misfortune. Nobles with wrecked clothing, the poor, the sick, the hungry. Suki goes to the information booth just outside and while the others scan the crowd or otherwise make themselves useful (Shi, bless the little ne'er do well, free runs to the top of the building with six expertly-placed jumps that cover the height in seconds), she waits in line for about half an hour before coming to a sour-faced man with a... really, really, _really_ bad haircut, who looks at her through his little window like she's just personally hurt him.

He tells her nothing useful, so she asks where the nearest tea shop is.

The nearest tea shop is the Pao Family Tea House, a shack which is doing a bustling business with tea that would outright _offend_ the object of her search. Fortunately, everyone there knows it sucks, and the most avid customers also know where they would rather be, if Pao didn't always keep the prices so low. Suki collects recommendations, but that ends up being a list about a hundred names long by the time she's spent three hours, ten coins, and four cups gathering intelligence, and none of them stand out until Suki hears, from behind her, “Seyo's Lotus is supposed to have gotten a lot better lately. It's just too bad I'll never be able to afford it.”

She almost sloshes tea out of her cup when she turns. The speaker is a girl, maybe a year or two younger than her. She's chatting disinterestedly with a boy who has the look of someone desperate to entertain. Suki puts on every last bit of her Kyoshi Warrior Charm and boldly joins the conversation. “You wouldn't happen to know how to get to Seyo's Lotus, would you?”

The girl blinks. “Excuse me,” the boy says.

Suki smiles.

“Um. Yeah, I do,” the girl says. “Not like I'll ever get to go there, though. It's one of the fanciest places in the middle ring.”

“Hey, we were kind of on a date!” the boy exclaims.

Suki resists the urge to wink. “You take me and my girlfriends to Seyo's Lotus, and I'll get you a whole meal there,” she says. 

The girl blinks, and she nods vigorously. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds great. Sorry Lee, but I just got a better offer.” She sticks her hand out. “I'm Jin.”

“Suki.” They shake hands.

+

Smellerbee is out looking for Jet again when Suki arrives with five of her warriors and a girl Jee doesn't recognize. The Kyoshi Warriors are some of the most overwhelmingly competent people Jee knows, and over his time with them, he got to know all of them pretty well, so not recognizing someone tells him that this girl isn't a warrior.

Also, she smells like the lower ring. That's a decent indicator, too. The warriors pay for the girl's meal, and Suki says something to her as she leaves. Judging by the blush on the girl's face, it was something flirty. Jee watches the girl leave, and then, one by one, the Kyoshi Warriors make their way out of the shop until only Suki is left.

She stays for the rest of the shift, which isn't, after all, very long to wait. The General greets her with a warm smile and sits at her table while Jee works on counting their earnings. 

“Hello, Suki,” the General says. 

Suki leans back in her chair. “I wasn't sure it was you until I saw Lieutenant Jee,” she says. Jee waves to her and goes back to counting coins. “I had to follow rumors to see if there were any tea shops that had abruptly gotten amazing.”

“I am glad to see you are all right,” the General says. “I worried, after we dropped you off. We could have used your help at the North Pole.”

No shit. The General came back from that fight with a bunch of little burns, and Jee spent the entire time incredibly worried.

Suki leans forward again. “I heard what happened. Part of it, at least. Is everyone okay?”

“Yes, actually,” the General says. “It was... very exciting. Zuko and Sokka got engaged!”

Suki's right eyebrow makes an honest attempt to summit the outer walls. “Engaged?”

“It was a ceremony to formalize their soulmate bond. More than counting the scars, but not as formal or binding as a marriage. They also asked Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe to be their queen consort when Zuko becomes Fire Lord.”

Suki splutters a little. “They what?”

The General nods. “She was betrothed to a young man she did not love for political reasons. She and Sokka fell in love, and when her fiance was killed in the fighting, there was nothing left to stop the match. Sometime soon, their bond will unite the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes in a strong alliance. Of course, we will have to defeat the current Fire Lord first.”

The General fills Suki in on what's happened, and by the time he gets to their arrival at Half Moon Bay, Jee has finished his counting and gotten a cup of tea for all three of them. Jee is just sitting down when the General says “and you'll never believe this, but Jet, the young man who flooded that town a few months ago? He was on the ferry with us!”

Jee watches Suki's face flit through surprise and into stony nonreaction so fast it's hard to spot the first emotion. “Where did they end up?”

“Well, he and a couple of his Fighters were trying to turn over a new leaf, so they have been living with us.”

Suki frowns. “When are you expecting Sokka and the others to show up?”

“Any day now,” the General says.

Suki nods. “You don't want them to meet Jet.”

The General's face turns a little sour with worry. “I am hoping that is a problem we will have.” At Suki's questioning look, he adds “Jet has been missing for almost three days. We are all growing very worried about him.”

“He tried to kill an entire town,” Suki says. This point, Jee feels, is not entirely fair. 

The General sighs. He takes a long pull at his tea. “Long ago, in this very city, I—the Dragon of the West—attempted an unspeakable evil. I was foolish, but no one stepped forth who could oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, my own son was taken from me, and I was flung into despair. This is the only thing that stopped me from taking the city. If you take that attitude with Jet, then you must find me at least as unforgivable.”

Suki turns away from the General's searching eyes. She blushes. “I... I guess you're right. Maybe he does deserve the chance. Look, maybe we can—” 

She's cut off by the door opening. Smellerbee comes in, looking dejected. She freezes in the door and looks between the three of them before finally saying “Mushi? Mister Lee? Who is this?”

“Ah, Smellerbee! You have good timing,” the General says. “This is Suki! She is a Kyoshi Warrior, here after a long journey from the west. I was just telling her about our missing friend.”

Suki sags a little. “If there's any way my warriors and I can help...”

Smellerbee nods. “I haven't gotten any word of him. But...” she holds something up. “I found this. It's his.” She approaches, and Jee gets a good look at what she is holding. It's the black bracelet Jet is always fiddling with. Up close, he can see that it's not silk, like he assumed. It's hair.

“What is it?” Suki asks.

“I think it's from his last boyfriend,” Smellerbee says. “He was this Fire Nation deserter who... um... we think he might have been in Gaipan when the flood happened.”

Oh. _Oh._

Oh, _EW_ Jet has been wearing _Zuko's fucking ponytail_ as a bracelet this entire time! Jee thinks very hard about whether or not he is going to be sick. Both of Suki's eyebrows climb for the clouds. “He wears his possibly-dead boyfriend's discarded hair as a bracelet?” she says.

Smellerbee blinks. “Well, when you put it that way, it sounds weird.”

“Sweetie, that's because it's _intensely_ weird.” Suki sighs. “Okay. Fine. I'll introduce you to the girls, and we'll coordinate. What's your name?”

“Her name is Smellerbee,” the General says.

Suki cocks her head to the side. “Cool. Well, Smellerbee, let's go. What do you know about the Kyoshi Warriors?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suki: *Sees a girl*  
> Suki: *is attracted*  
> Suki: So, have you heard of my sexy-lady-murder-fan island?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter opens with Jet wrestling with Dai Li brainwashing. There's a mention of underage drinking, some vomit mention, and various assorted brainwashing-trauma and self-doubt

Jet wanders into Seyo's Lotus after he spots Smellerbee talking with a girl in the street. It just sort of... occurs to him that he should go there when he sees them. It's been a few days, but he's been really busy, and it's not like ~~fuck no~~ he has nothing to show for it. 

He hasn't been behaving very responsibly. He's fully aware of that. But he did earn enough money ~~pigbullshit~~ from the warehouse job that even with the three (four? Five?) day drinking tear ~~but what did he drink? When did he start drinking? He can't remember that~~ it doesn't matter, anyway ~~it matters~~ that he probably shouldn't have gone on, he still has a decent amount of money. 

Mister Lee yelps when Jet comes in, and ~~he's up to something~~ it makes Jet's head hurt ~~no it doesn't~~ because he's ~~supposed to be~~ a little hungover still.

“JET!” Mister Lee calls out, and then Longshot leaps over the counter and runs clear across the shop to slam into Jet and squeeze him in a tight hug.

Longshot blinks, leans back, and stares at Jet, sniffing the air slightly.

“I know, I probably smell kinda bad,” Jet says.

Someone rips the door open behind him, just as Mushi comes down the stairs, staring at him. Smellerbee's hands are familiar, wrapped around Jet from behind. She sniffs loudly. “Jet, have you been drinking?”

~~No.~~

“Maybe a little,” he confesses. “Sorry. It's just been... really hard, and I got carried away.”

“We've been terrified,” Mister Lee says. ~~He was right to be terrified.~~

“I know,” Jet says. “I'm sorry. Look, I had a lot of thinking to” ~~liar~~ “do and... I guess I haven't been totally... can we go upstairs?” All the customers are staring at him. Mushi leaves the shop in the hands of a group of girls Jet doesn't recognize, and their weird little pseudo-family goes upstairs. Jet sits down on the couch, and the others gather around. Jet takes a deep breath. His mouth tastes like rice wine ~~they made him drink it last night until he was sick~~ and vomit ~~all over himself, and all over th~~

There Is No War In Ba Sing Se

Jet's friends are all looking at him, very concerned. “I realized that I've been trying to... to... to fight. But there's no... there is no war in Ba Sing Se. So I'm gonna work harder. I'm gonna try to be good enough. For all of you. I picked up a job or two” ~~liar~~ “between all the making an idiot of myself, and I'm gonna make more money and start saving up. We'll get a nicer house to live in. Mushi, you won't have to work in this shop anymore before long.”

Mushi smiles. “Jet, there is no need to worry about that. I enjoy working here. We should get you cleaned up.”

Mister Lee helps him up.

Jet doesn't like taking a bath alone. There's too much time to think, to reflect on his failures and shortcomings. He hurries through it, but in order to get clean, it takes too long. He emerges, damp, back into the apartment, and he passes the window with the little garden box outside of it ~~pick some grass~~ and when Mushi passes him a cup of tea, he drinks it slowly and carefully.

Smellerbee presses something into his hand after the tea is done. It's smooth, and soft, textured like a braid. Jet holds it up. A circle of black ~~hair from the last person he loved. Zuko. It's Zuko's. A perfect remin~~

There Is No War In Ba Sing Se

Jet starts to cry. He's not sure why. There's a ~~familiar~~ foreign weight on his wrist. He looks down. ~~It's there, Zuko's hair, where he can touch it and see that~~ There's nothing there. Must be his imagination. He wipes away a few tears and lays down to sleep. ~~It's been a day or two since he slept.~~

+

Iroh is getting worried. Zuko has been due to arrive with the Avatar “any day now” for about five days, but there is little he can do except send messages to the White Lotus about it.

Far closer to home, Jet seems to be in a much better mood, but something about it feels... wrong. It doesn't have the intense focus of Zuko pretending to be okay in a crisis, or the manic distractability of Aang or Sokka refusing to deal with a problem. He certainly isn't sliding repeatedly into his problems the way Katara does, either. 

If anything, it's like Jee gets when they talk about the Fire Nation. Jee is a good man, and he refuses to condone what his homeland is doing, but when they plan moves against the Fire Nation, he never seems to quite believe it. A part of him dies just a little every time Iroh makes him go up against his own people. Just ~~something else to feel guil~~ ty about (Iroh resolves to meditate and examine his guilt in the evening. It is always good to know one's own feelings). Jee goes through these times with unwavering energy, his commitment and spirit exactly the same whether he is planning an attack, waiting for a signal, or killing his own countrymen. 

At the heart of it, that's what's wrong. Jet is applying that sort of unnervingly steady energy to everything he does. When he washes dishes for the shop, he does so in a quiet, friendly, casual manner. When he goes to work in one of the warehouses that hires him, he goes in a quiet, friendly, casual manner. When he eats dinner with Iroh, Jee, Smellerbee, and Longshot, he is quiet, friendly, and casual. When he slices his finger open peeling a carrotato, he seeks help in a quiet, friendly, casual manner.

And he doesn't chew on his grass stalks. The windowbox goes unmolested for days. Smellerbee tries to get him to gnaw on one and in a quiet, friendly, casual manner, he refuses.

Suki agrees that it's not right. “I didn't know him before,” she says, “but this is not a guy who could seduce Zuko.”

Iroh nods. They are sitting on the roof of Yeso's Lotus, where they have some privacy to talk about weighty things. All around them, the dark green roofs of the middle ring poke out of the dense fog that claims this part of the city every night, now slowly burning off in the morning sun. The view is spectacular, if not as lovely as it would be from the upper ring. Iroh may actually prefer it over the ostentation of the nobles' districts. Here and there, little rooftop gardens provide bright points of color, and it feels good to be among them this way.

“He is being a model citizen. If I did not think that it will all come crashing down soon, I would be thrilled.” Iroh sips his tea, and he shakes his head. “But do not let me burden you with my worries. You have worries of your own, don't you?”

Suki's head drops to her folded hands on the table. She looks almost as young as she is, giving a pleading look to Iroh. “You're wise and experienced. Do you understand girls?”

“Suki, I thought you were a girl yourself.”

“I am, but I'm still having girl trouble. It's Jin.”

“The girl who brought you here?” Iroh asks.

Suki blinks an acknowledgment. “I've been going to see her a lot. Because she's really cute. I mean, Uncle, she's... she's just devastating. And she's had such a hard life. I mean, she had to flee from a Fire Nation takeover when she was eight, she's spent five years in poverty here in Ba Sing Se, and she's just... so... sweet. Uncle, I think I'm in love.”

“You have not even known her for two weeks,” Iroh points out reasonably.

“That's the problem!” Suki's hands come up off the table as she throws herself dramatically back upright. “I've never even seen her without makeup on, but everything about her just makes me feel good. I just want to kiss her until we both die of too many kisses.”

Iroh chuckles happily. Young love. 

“You should bring her to the shop,” he says. “I found her delightful, and I would be willing to serve her as a friend, rather than a customer.” He gives Suki the best conspiratorial grin he can. “Friends get their first drink at only three quarters price!”

Suki's laugh is one of the best Iroh has ever heard, bright and carefree. It bubbles out of her like she can't control it, and she covers her mouth, shooting a halfhearted glare at him. He doesn't apologize. It is good to make friends laugh.

+

Jin _really_ likes Yeso's Lotus. Mushi, the old man who runs the place for Ma Yeso, is incredibly kind, and no one looks at her funny. When Suki offers to take her there, she leaps at the chance, and it's just as wonderful as when she showed Suki how to find it.

Suki is... well, Jin _really _likes Suki, too. And Suki obviously likes her back. She's not subtle about it. Holding hands across the table, smiling at the boy who brings their food without taking her eyes off of Suki for more than the moment it takes to see shaggy hair and sharp eyes, quiet, friendly, and casual, his head turned left to acknowledge Suki, Jin feels more loved and accepted than she thinks she ever has in her life.__

__They eat together, they drink their tea, and afterwards, Suki takes her through the kitchen, past quiet-friendly-casual (who is washing dishes and doesn't notice them) and a girl with hair almost as shaggy, up a set of stairs and out onto a little rooftop garden. The whole shop is covered in plants, ivy and little grassy windowboxes and morning glories here and there, and up here it is crowded with flowerpots and trellises for climbing beans, little bushes and a couple of hardy bonsai trees, herbs, vegetables, and even a single largeish rosebush, all gathered around a tiny wooden table and a few chairs, placed to invite a view of the city that takes Jin's breath away. This is the highest she's ever been up the rings. She doesn't even think she's ever _seen_ the upper ring before, but hints of the houses up on the mountainside are visible over the wall from here._ _

__Suki leads her to the table, but Jin doesn't sit down. She squeezes Suki's hand in her own._ _

__“I like you a lot,” Suki says._ _

__Jin pulls her closer and leans on her shoulder. “I like you a lot, too,” she agrees._ _

__“Jin, can I kiss you?” Suki asks after a minute._ _

__Jin slips around in front of her. Suki is taller than she is, not by much, but enough that Jin feels extra safe in her arms, tilting her head back. “Please,” she says._ _

__A few minutes later, they are laughing because Jin has left lipstick on Suki's face. They sit together on the rooftop until it's time to go. Suki stands up, taking one last look out at the slowly setting sun. From here, they can barely see the distant, hazy expanse of the farm ring. Suki looks down over the side of the building, and she freezes. “That's weird,” she says._ _

__“What,” Jin asks._ _

__Suki points. Jin looks, and there's quiet-friendly-casual, walking down the street. He rounds a corner, and Suki looks pensive. “Stay here,” she says, and she jumps down off the roof, bouncing from sloped tile to sturdy awning to street._ _

__Right. Like that's gonna happen. Jin is many things, but her favorite bits of herself are _curious, persistent,_ and _athletic._ She hops onto the rooftop, runs, and leaps to the next, then again, getting to the corner the boy rounded just in time to see him slip into a little shop that advertises itself as a travel and touring service. Is quiet-friendly-casual leaving? That seems sort of obliquely sad. Jin makes her way down to street level just as Suki comes around the corner. She points at the building, and Suki blinks, just as a smiling, blandly pretty woman of about thirty comes out of the shop and takes down a little sign. _Help Wanted,_ the sign says._ _

__Oh. Well, that explains it._ _

__Suki walks her home, but promises to bring her back soon._ _


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second scene is Jet's POV, and contains a pretty detailed panic attack.

Okay, so the huge crazy drill-thing is probably one of the most upsetting bits of this already-agonizing trip. Zuko is exhausted, he's just spent an hour melting support posts so Aang and Katara can cut through them easier, and then he's had a twenty-minute knockdown-dragout with a small army.

He leans back against the side of the monstrosity and closes his eyes. Sokka's hands land on his shoulders, and his soulmate leans forward to kiss him deeply, but gently. “You did amazing, Jerkbender,” he says.

Zuko doesn't open his eyes. “I'm just glad we managed it before they got in. That force would have burned all of the city's crops if we didn't stop them before they hit the farm ring.”

Sokka kisses him again, and Zuko is just starting to wrap his arms around him when Toph yells “there's someone coming! I don't think they're benders, though.”

Sokka stiffens and goes to a ready stance while Zuko forces himself into ready position, only to see, approaching from the other side of the huge Fire Nation weapon...

“Suki?” Sokka says.

Suki breaks into a run, all dignity abandoned, and they crash into each other in a tight hug that makes Zuko laugh. Suki lifts Sokka up and twirls him around, planting little kisses on his cheek while he laughs. 

“Oh. I guess you guys know them?” Toph says. 

Zuko nods. “Yeah. Remember I told you about my ship? Suki and her Kyoshi Warriors were with us there.”

“Oh.” Toph is consideringly silent as Sokka and Suki continue their enthusiastic reunion. 

“Kinda seems like the future Fire Lord over there has a bit of a thing for her,” Toph says.

Zuko laughs. “Oh, yeah, they had this whole... like... thing on the ship. And it's Sokka, so at this rate, we're gonna end up with _two_ queen consorts.”

“Nice,” Toph says.

“Yeah. I like Suki, and also I'm afraid of her, but in a good way.” He frowns at the thought. It hasn't occurred to him until now, standing on the hot plains in front of Ba Sing Se's enormous outer wall, that it's possible to be afraid of someone in a way that isn't perfectly awful, but that is kind of how he feels about Suki. And Aang and Toph and Katara, for that matter.

Okay, maybe not Aang. Aang could kill him at any given moment, but he wouldn't hurt a fly ~~and they're going to have to start dealing with that pretty soon.~~

“So what, you're not afraid of me?” Toph teases.

Zuko ruffles Toph's hair. “Toph, you scare me least out of everyone here because if you kill me, you'll warn me first so it isn't boring.”

Toph throws back her head to laugh at that, and Suki arrives with her warriors. She's only got five. When they get closer, Zuko recognizes Wori, Bon Lin, Sohi, Imbon, and Shi. He hugs Suki and she whispers in his good ear “I hear you and Sokka got pre-married.”

Zuko blushes as Suki pulls back away from him. “Yeah. He's...”

“Yeah, he is,” Suki agrees. “I'm glad you guys are here. Poor Iroh's been beside himself with worry, and it's been driving Jee to distraction. I think the whole fake marriage thing has been hard on him.”

“I'm surprised they aren't out here,” Katara says.

“They're probably on the way, but we were much closer when the attack started. Because my warriors are overprotective and think I need a full escort to visit my girlfriend.”

“You have a girlfriend?” Sokka brightens. “That's great, Suki! What's she like?”

“Jin?” Suki's whole face goes soft as a sponge cake. “She's incredible. Super cute.”

“Has Kyoshi Warrior potential,” Bon Lin adds.

“Oh! Yeah, she does,” Suki says. “Oh, and... um...” She looks nervously between them all. “Jet is here too.”

Zuko's heart stops beating for about twelve years. _“Here_ here?” he asks, looking around.

“No, at the tea shop. He sorta lives there with Uncle, and he's... really not at all like you described him, but he's definitely the same guy. He's got Longshot and Smellerbee there, too.” She looks at Toph, pointedly. “You all should come and say hello. Obviously, there's a lot to discuss.”

Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Toph has a soulmate to meet, and Zuko has to decide whether or not to murder Jet.

+

Mushi comes back from leaving abruptly for no good reason ~~aside from the fact that there's been a Fire Nation attack on the outer wall~~ with company three hours after he leaves. Jet sees Suki, and then a dejected lo ~~oking Aang, and~~ Zuko(?) ~~and Sokka, then all the rest of Suki's Kyoshi Warriors, and then Katara, with the knife-monkey on her right shoulder, thankfully without a knife, and then two girls, walking next to each other and chatting, and one of them is his so~~

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

There is no—

“Jet, there are some people you should meet and some things I should tell you,” Mushi says, poking his head into the kitchen. “Please, go upstairs and wake up Smellerbee and Longshot.”

Jet ~~basically fucking runs away~~ up the stairs to get Smellerbee and Longsh ~~fuck fuck fuck fuck~~ ot. Smellerbee is curled up on one of the too many beds in the too small space, and he shakes her awake be ~~cause she has to be awake for this, there are things she needs to see and they're already starting to come up the stairs and he has no idea how to handl~~

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

There i—

Mushi leads the ~~Avatar~~ and his friends into the apartment above Yeso's Lotus with a smile and Jet's eyes flick to ~~his so~~ there is no war in Ba Sing ~~yes there fucking is~~ Se

and the others, as they all sit down calmly. Longshot joins them. He sits across from ~~Jet's sou~~ There is no war in Ba Sing Se, and then Smellerbee sits, and Zuko and Sokka sit together, Sokka planting a little kiss on Zuko's cheek and also glaring at Jet ~~which is probably fair since Jet has hurt them all in the past. Mushi watches Smellerbee as she sits and her eyes go wide, staring across the table, but before she can say anything Jet's soulm~~

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

~~says “Jet? Jet, is that you?” and she stumbles to her feet, away from Suki, pulling out a cloth to soak it in water at the sink. She starts to wipe at her face, scrubbing diligently so that makeup comes away on her cloth, and she turns back to Jet and there it is, there's the scar on his cheek, but it's on her cheek instead because she is his so~~

There is no war in Ba Sing Se

~~She is his soulm~~

There is no war in Ba Sing Se, and he turns away from the evidence.

He risks a glance at her. The others are staring. There is no war in Ba Sing Se. She is standing behind Suki, staring at him. There is no war in Ba Sing Se. There is a scar on her left cheek. She is ~~his soulmate~~ and that's...

She is his soulmate. She steps past Suki and reaches out to touch his cheek. Her hand lingers over the scar from when Katara slammed him into a tree and _he deserved it._

“You're my soulmate,” she whispers. 

It's unnatural, the way that the joy bubbles up from deep inside of him, but it washes away EVERYTHING and he jumps up, vaults over the table, past Smellerbee, to stand in front of her.

“I never even got your name,” he says, but it's okay that he didn't because she's _here now_ and she hugs him for sheer joy. Pure, unadulterated joy, untainted by the lies of the Dai Li.

+

As Jin introduces herself to Jet, Toph turns their attention back to the _other_ weird thing happening at the table, although a panic attack _that_ intense definitely takes the cake for weird things they have seen today. But one of the others, a girl with the fuzzy feeling of shaggy hair on top of her head, is a rapid staccato heartbeat wrapped in a staring mess of human being, and Toph isn't going to take that anymore, because the girl isn't staring at the soulmate meeting anymore, she's staring at Toph. Which means...

“You must be Smellerbee,” Toph says. “Aang told me about you.”

“He would, huh?” Smellerbee says. “He's a good kid.”

Toph fidgets with the burns on their fingers. “You're... not much good with tea, are you?”

“I'm getting better,” Smellerbee says, and it's only with the acknowledgment that it finally _clicks,_ because something abstract like Aang saying _”well, it's two thick red lines on each of your cheeks”_ or _”her name is Smellerbee, and I'm pretty sure she's your soulmate”_ doesn't really do it, but the instant that Smellerbee confirms that she's _spilled tea all over her hands in the last few weeks_ drags something up out of Toph that they're not used to, a deep, endless joy, running around them like a summer breeze or the rippling exuberance of an earthquake.

“We're not gonna be... like... in love, are we? We don't have to do that, right?” Toph says, even though right about now, anything Smellerbee wants sounds absolutely perfect.

Smellerbee shakes her head. “We don't have to. We should talk, though. Um. And I think Jet's soulmate might be Suki's girlfriend?”

Toph nods. “Yeah, that's weird and I'm not thinking about it right now.”

The joy suffusing Toph's entire being crowds out other feelings, like a boulder under a field pushing away the roots of the crops. Smellerbee angles her head, looking at Jet and... Jin? That's probably her name but it's not important because Toph's _fucking soulmate_ is _right there_ and so they stand up and ask “is there somewhere we can go to talk where everyone isn't freaking out over Jet?”

“Traditionally, no. Jet freaks people out.” Smellerbee stands up, too. “Come on, though. If anyone comes up to the rooftop to bother us, I'll stab them.”

“Oh!” Toph says. “You _are_ my soulmate!”

Smellerbee leads them up to a garden on the rooftop that _smells_ pretty good, and definitely has a whole lot of plants in it. Too bad she can't see any of them. There's a table and some chairs (probably. It's hard to make out details up on this rooftop, where the floor is clay over a wooden frame) in the corner. Smellerbee sits at one of the chairs. “So who are you?” she asks.

“Toph Beifong,” Toph admits. “Or the Blind Bandit. I like being the Blind Bandit.”

Smellerbee is quiet, her heart doing some interesting athletics. “The Earth Rumble champion?”

Toph jumps back to their feet at that. “YES! YES, FINALLY SOMEONE RECOGNIZES MY GREATNESS!”

“You're a legend, dude!” Smellerbee shouts back, only a little quieter. “They used to sell dolls of you in Gaipan! I had one, but they didn't put the...” she touches her cheek, then reaches out to touch Toph's. “I can't believe my soulmate is the Blind Bandit.”

Toph catches Smellerbee's hand in her own and squeezes. “You know I'm gonna punch you a lot, right?”

Smellerbee makes a little clicking sound that Toph has learned to recognize as a smile (it comes from lips that have been closed parting). “Why?”

“Because it's how I show affection.” Toph considers their hands, still touching gently. “You might be an exception. Which is okay. I guess. But only because you are literally my actual soulmate. Don't tell anyone if I'm nice to you.”

Smellerbee laughs. She has a very quiet laugh. “You? Nice? Nope, never happened.” She pats Toph's cheek, then slowly pulls away and says, “so... what's your whole... gender situation?”

Toph blinks. “Um. I'm a girl?”

“Me too,” Smellerbee says.

“Well, obviously,” Toph says.

“Can I say something and you won't get mad?” Smellerbee asks.

“Probably, unless it's that I need to take a bath.” Toph rubs a hand across the table. Wood. Nice, tight grain. A little rickety, maybe.

“I'm not sure if girl is... all of it for you.” Smellerbee catches Toph's exploring hand, and there they are holding hands again. 

Toph frowns. “I... I don't want to talk about this right now. I mean, we will, okay? It's... just not right now?”

Smellerbee shifts around, and if she weren't so difficult to feet-see, Toph would be able to tell if that was a nod or not, but then Smellerbee says “yeah, that's okay.”

They talk quietly until Iroh (whose uncle is he, anyway, they all call him Uncle) comes up and sets down some tea in front of them both. Not that Toph is entirely certain it's tea until they smell the complex spices and heat off the cup. A quick tap on the table shows them where to put their hand well enough that they grab the cup without any trouble. They really prefer eating off the ground. That way they can see.

“How are you ladies doing?” Iroh asks.

Toph frowns, aims their face in the general direction of Smellerbee, and chooses not to reply.

“Mister... um... Iroh?” Smellerbee shifts around. She lets go of Toph's hand. “I think we maybe need to talk a little longer. And... could you send Longshot up here?”

“Of course, Smellerbee,” Iroh says.

Smellerbee sighs as Iroh slips down the stairs. “You might not be able to tell, but I wasn't exactly—” 

“Smellerbee, your heart is speeding up,” Toph says. “You don't have to tell me this. Also, I... already knew that. There's a few people in Gaoling like that. But I'm not a boy.”

“You don't have to be,” Smellerbee says. Footsteps coming up the stairs resolve into Longshot, whose ill-focused form is topped with what might be some kind of hat. He crosses the roof while Smellerbee speaks. “And you don't have to be a girl, either. And... um...” she sighs, probably seeing that Toph isn't quite understanding, and then there's some movement from Longshot, even more than sitting down in the ricketiest chair imaginable could reasonably produce. Smellerbee moves the same way she did when she nodded. “Yeah. Longshot says that you seem like you're really trying to be just one person.” She pauses again while Longshot moves, then nodding-moves again and goes on, “Maybe you're Toph Beifong, the girl, sometimes, and maybe you're Toph the not-girl sometimes, and maybe sometimes you're the Blind Bandit” Longshot makes a little noise of shock “and you don't have to be the same all the time.”

Longshot moves almost frantically. Smellerbee laughs at him. “That's what I said!” She taps Toph's hand. “He knows who you are, too.”

Toph reaches out. Their hand finds the front of Longshot's shirt and pats up to his face, where they pat gently twice. “I like you, too. You don't talk much, do you?”

The face in their hand shakes side to side. No.

“Well, we'll figure that out later.” Toph takes a sip of their tea. Delicious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so if you were invested in Jet and Toph as soulmates, I'm sorry.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohboy long chapter is long
> 
> Content warnings for violence later in this chapter. There's a few deaths that are just straight up stated, not even implied.

Azula slips down the street. She never makes the same mistake twice. An open assault where she expects the Avatar has failed before, and the drill was a big, huge, very open attack. It was also a quality distraction. 

The stolen Earth Kingdom clothes and the bribed earthbender (now dead in a ditch because all the best plans do that to someone) are almost a bonus at this point.

She really should have gotten Mai and Ty Lee when she knew she was going to have to track down her brother. They're shockingly effective, which is to say that they are extremely effective and everyone who learns about their methods is shocked.

Or dead, but who's counting.

Ty Lee is the one who brings them to where the Avatar went. Not the palace, but a little tea shop (and, really Uncle?) in the middle ring, where there seems to be some sort of... date... happening on the roof, and a lot of shouting inside, and the Avatar is sitting out front with her brother and her brother's stupid Water Tribe boyfriend and slightly more Kyoshi Warriors than she is willing to take on at once with two unpredictable benders who are _apparently_ able to bend more than one element and a whole collection of unknown quantities on the roof.

She takes in the details and implications of the scene. The tea shop is bathed in early evening light, covered in vines but clearly well built, and the walls are solid and smooth and suspiciously thick under all that. The place is fortified. Not easy to raid and probably locks up tighter than a Fire Sage's asshole. She can hear snips and snatches of conversation inside, including several distressed mentions of the Dai Li, which she's fairly sure is Ba Sing Se's secret police. As she eavesdrops, a boy about Zuko's age storms out of the door, looks down, sees her brother, turns a little green, and marches back inside. 

Interesting.

She hears a few snatches of clearer conversation through the door. “If the Dai Li are willing to suppress news of the war through kidnappings,” Uncle says before he is cut off by the door slamming. 

After that, she hears the voice that has consistently been loudest yell “already be here!”

Ah. Now _that_ has some interesting implications.

Like...

Azula slowly backs across the rooftop she is occupying.

Ty Lee looks to her as they come up even with each other.

“Find the nearest Dai Li agent and disable them. Mai, go with her, but don't kill. We have someone to interrogate.”

Azula's ~~friends~~ minions ~~princesses can't afford friends~~ leap off into the evening. They return ten minutes later with a captive, and Azula heads for the abandoned building she noticed half a mile back. Mai and Ty Lee are wonderful people who don't need explicit instructions to appropriately abduct, torture, and interrogate an enemy state security agent. They bundle the Dai Li agent into the building ahead of her, in time for Azula to saunter in as though she owns the place, which is always properly intimidating because _she might as well for all anyone can take it from her._

The man is a floppy, loose collection of useless muscle and unhelpful bones. Azula lets herself laugh at his expense as she approaches. She knows all the ways she's scary, and she plays them up, injecting a little bit of girlish innocence into her laugh.

“There's two ways this is going to go,” she says. “First, you're going to tell me everything I ask you. Then I'm going to torture you until you cooperate.”

The man's wide eyes flicker to her. “You'll have to kill me. I'm not telling you anything.”

“You don't listen very well, do you?” Azula teases. “I didn't say that I was going to interrogate you.” She lights up a single focused flame from her fingertip and stops in front of the man, bringing it close to his face. “I said you were going to tell me everything I ask you. You don't get a choice in the matter. Ty Lee, make him cooperate.”

Ty Lee moves.

+

The woman at the front door is... pretty? Katara watches her warily. Her smile is wide and fixed, looking deeply unnatural the way it stretches her features, like it isn't actually _hers._

“Um,” Katara says.

Four men step up behind the woman, wearing identical green robes and large hats.

There's a quiet scuffling sound somewhere behind her. They finally got Jet to sleep around midnight last night, but he's been awake for hours now at what Toph describes as “the stupid part of morning.” Judging by the noise, Jet is agitated. These men must be Dai Li.

“Hello,” the woman says. “My name is Joo Dee. I've been sent to bring the Avatar and his friends to a house that has been prepared for them in the upper ring.”

Katara bites her lower lip. Joo Dee's face doesn't have the... liveliness of an actual happy person's face. Katara isn't sure, given all the stuff that's wrong here, that she can honestly call _that_ a _smile._ “There's a lot of us,” Katara says.

“I'm supposed to bring the people who helped with the small disturbance at the outer wall.”

Zuko steps up to the door, looking bleary and rumpled. He and Sokka spent half the night sitting out in the shop, talking, and Katara is unfortunately convinced that there was some jerkbending as well, given that Zuko has cleaned the serving counter four times already, which... ew.

“Well, we're all coming,” Katara says. “Together.”

“That is not what I was told,” Joo Dee begins, but next to Katara, Zuko fixes her with a very tired Look, and she blinks. Her face almost makes an expression.

“You're taking us to a house that's been prepared _for us?_ So it's ours to use as we will?”

Joo Dee nods.

“Great,” Zuko smiles very, very slightly. “Wait here while we bring the guests that we're going to have with us at _our_ house.” He closes the door in her face, then he turns around and huffs out a breath. “Those were Dai Li agents, right?” His question is deliberately not addressed to anyone. The presence of Jet is clearly not something he wants to deal with right now.

Katara understands that.

“Those were Dai Li agents,” Jet confirms. 

“That may be dangerous for many of us,” Iroh notes, and that's a pretty huge understatement. 

“We go together, just like we planned,” Sokka says over a cup of tea that has been steeping so long Katara is surprised he doesn't just eat it with chopsticks. This involves waking up several people, including Suki's girlfriend, who refused to leave last night, and Smellerbee, who is _still_ trying to cuddle with both Longshot and Toph, and was trying to also snuggle with Jet earlier. Katara decides that Smellerbee is her favorite Freedom Fighter, if only because she is very cute when she's asleep.

Toph wakes up Smellerbee, and Smellerbee waking up has Longshot up instantly, and Jee looks mildly traumatized at all this activity and the entire shop and apartment being full of teenagers. The Kyoshi Warriors get into full battle dress, and Katara leans over to tease Sokka. “Are you going to put on your war paint?”

“No,” Sokka says. “I'm going to carry my sword, my war club, my boomerang, and my boyfriend, which are all deadly weapons.

Aang sits up, yawning very wide. “Why do we need weapons?”

“The Dai Li is here to take us to a new house and we're all going there together,” Jet says. He had to be talked out of sleeping with his swords on, and they have, since he woke up, been supplemented with four daggers and a meat cleaver he thinks Katara didn't notice him taking.

“Okay,” Aang says. “After that, we'll be able to get more sleep, right?”

“With the Dai Li watching us?” Jet says.

“With us watching ourselves,” Katara shoots back. “You're an awful person and I'm not forgiving you, but I'm not going to let... that... happen to you again.”

Jet frowns. Katara ignores his displeasure and helps to gather people's things, and when they emerge from the building as a group of sixteen, Joo Dee's eyes get really, really big for a second.

“Okay,” Katara says. “We're ready to go.”

Joo Dee and her phalanx of elite benders are outnumbered, and with all of them together, also so badly outclassed that they can't make a move. Katara notices Zuko palming a knife, and he clucks at Momo, who leaps from Toph's shoulder to land on his and receive the blade.

“Did you just give your monkey a knife?” one of the Dai Li says.

“Yeah,” Zuko says. “City streets can be dangerous, but so can we.”

All four of the Dai Li straighten up at that. Sokka makes a little tiny snorting noise and says something quietly into Zuko's ear.

The trip takes an hour and a half. On the monorail, they make a game of loudly picking out the Dai Li agents in the crowd, which makes the few legitimate passengers very nervous. Eventually, Jin retreats from deep conversation with Jet to stand beside Katara. “Is every day this exciting with you around?”

“I think it's Aang's fault,” Katara says. Aang himself is sitting on one of the soft seats at the side of the car, asleep on Longshot's shoulder. It's cute, but Katara is pretty sure the feeling she's got isn't just from him being cute. “Everyone either wants to kill him, capture him, or use him. It's terrifying.”

“You're going to attack the Fire Nation, aren't you?” Jin says, quietly.

Katara nods. “We have to. We have to stop them. Sozin's comet is coming back in a few months, and it's going to be a disaster unless we do something.”

The Dai Li are glaring at them. Given what Jet said last night, they probably want to tip the whole monorail car into the streets below in hopes of killing the lot of them.

Katara restrains the urge to attack. These people haven't hurt them yet and they have to figure out what's going on. Maybe the Jet situation is a misunderstanding.

+

Jin's hand lands on his back the instant they step into the house. Jet's hands drop to the hilts of his shuang gou, and he watches the six additional Dai Li agents that are waiting for them inside. Then his eyes settle on the seventh person in the room.

Jet freezes. The face is so familiar it hurts, somewhere between his stomach and his heart. Long Feng. 

The others file in and fan out around Jet and Jin. He barely notices how they're taking up a combat-ready formation, soulmates shoulder to shoulder, ready to support each other, Kyoshi Warriors screening, Katara ready on one end, Zuko on the other. Aang steps in between Jet and Long Feng. Jet really, really doesn't like the idea of anyone being so directly in Long Feng's line of fire.

The interrogator speaks.

“Jet. The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.” ~~There is no war in Ba Sing Se, and Jet has to do his duty, he has a job to do.~~ Jet twitches. His hands grip the hilts of his swords. Long Feng smiles. “Take the old man into custody,” he orders.

~~Jet has a job to do. Might as well get to it.~~ Jin's hand presses into his back. She reaches up and brushes a hand across the place on his cheek where a tree trunk scarred him months ago.

“Fuck you, Long Feng,” Jet says.

“He's a firebender,” Long Feng says.

“He never kidnapped me,” Jet says.

Long Feng sighs. He gestures to the Dai Li.

Aang steps in front of ~~Mushi~~ Iroh.

“Nobody is arresting anyone,” Aang says. “What the Dai Li did to Jet was wrong, and it's not happening to anyone else.”

Long Feng raises a perfectly-manicured eyebrow.

Apparently, that's the signal to attack, because the room erupts into chaos. There are the four Dai Li who brought them here, and the six inside, and Long Feng, all of them terrifying earthbenders, plus there are certainly plenty more Dai Li hidden outside, ready to join the fight. On the other side, the Kyoshi Warriors are a flawless fighting team, pulling shields out of nowhere and lashing out with swords to block earthbending attacks when the Dai Li open up by throwing their awful stone gloves at everyone. They have diversity on their side, too. The Dai Li targeting Katara are foiled by a swirling wall of water, while Toph slides forward, stomps, and _okay, so apparently Toph's here because they're absolute_ murder _in a fight_ because they bend the floor right open under Long Feng himself, and the man stumbles.

Meanwhile, Sokka flies into action, drawing a sword and smashing several earthbending attacks while Zuko draws his dao and defends his soulmate's back. Smellerbee instantly turns into a whirling maelstrom of dagger blades, never letting an attack get close to her as she and Toph work together to cover Longshot. 

The Dai Li clearly aren't expecting Jee to be a firebender either, and in the confusion of his leaping to Iroh's defense, they completely miss Iroh's broad, sweeping attack, which sends all of the Dai Li in the house scrambling back. Zuko hasn't bent yet, even as Jet swings his own swords to block three attacks, one of which is aimed at Jin. He weaves a cage of steel around his soulmate, and Zuko pushes back _behind_ him and slips through the Dai Li outside with the help of a massive blast of air from Aang. 

Jet barely has a moment to feel like Zuko has betrayed them before the firebender skids to a stop in the street and twists through a series of slashing swings of his swords that call an absolute _deluge_ out of one of the stupid, pretentious ponds decorating this part of the upper ring. He bends the water right at the startled Dai Li outside, and _what the fuck?_ It throws them clear out of Jet's view. About half of Zuko's water flashes past Jet into the house, and Aang and Katara start using it to clear out the Dai Li. Long Feng opens a hole in the wall.

Jet goes after him. The Kyoshi Warriors fill in the space he's left, and Sokka of all people follows him.

“Zuko can waterbend?” Jet asks.

“Only if I let him,” Sokka replies. “We figured it might take the Dai Li off guard.”

Long Feng disappears around a corner.

“This was always gonna be a fight,” Jet surmises.

Sokka shrugs. “Look. I don't like you. You played with Zuko's feelings. But I am not going to let this guy get away with what he did to you.” He unslings his boomerang from his back and stoops to pick up a rock in his sword hand. “Go attack him when I throw this rock,” Sokka mutters.

Sokka tosses the rock gently into the space between houses where Long Feng has ducked, and his boomerang flies overhead, on a path to miss Long Feng badly. Jet charges. Long Feng is ready for him, and Jet is suddenly fighting back against dozens of grasping columns of earth. Jet backs away while Long Feng advances. Sokka charges in next to Jet, and there are a few seconds of desperate blocking before, with a loud, very bony cracking sound, Sokka's boomerang slams into the back of Long Feng's head.

Blood flies from the point of impact, Long Feng sprawls forward, and Jet rushes forward, right sword raised to deliver the killing blow. 

Sokka stops him, blocking with his own sword and yanking up on the back of Long Feng's robe. He brings his sword down from Jet's and presses it to Long Feng's throat, dragging the stunned earthbender into the open. “WE'VE GOT LONG FENG!” He yells.

Everything stops. Long Feng slowly comes around. He tenses at the blade against his throat. Jet steps up to him and spits in his face.

“Fuck you, Long Feng,” he says again. It feels really good.

The odds against them start to erase that good feeling as nearly thirty Dai Li agents step into the open.

Long Feng growls at the rest of their little army when they step out. They're a formidable force, and they've already taken down ten agents, no less than five of them permanently, if the arrows sticking out of chests, backs, and throats are any indication. “Tell them to back off, Long Feng,” Sokka orders. “We're going to go have a chat with the Earth King, and they're not going to touch us.”

“You won't get away with this,” Long Feng says.

Toph laughs. “You wanna see what we're like on the move, Dirtnap, just try and stop us. I'd be happy to smoosh some more of your minions before we move on to knocking down the palace.”

“You wouldn't dare,” Long Feng says. His voice is slurred a little.

Toph crosses their arms. Smellerbee does, too. 

Huh. They're kinda cute together, in a buildings-on-fire-no-prisoners sort of way. Smellerbee's tattoos harden her face, but they soften Toph's, bringing out the curve of their cheek.

Jet looks back to Long Feng. He shrugs. “I don't really care either way. It would be kinda funny if you got your throat slashed by a fifteen-year-old nonbender and then we killed the entire Dai Li.”

“That's a little fucked up,” Suki says, but Toph starts laughing, and Jin giggles nervously from somewhere in their little group.

Long Feng's face turns bright, bright red in his fury, then goes very abruptly calm. “I assume you want your bison back? I can do that. All it will cost you is a little bit of cooperation.”

Aang's eyes flash.

Not figuratively. Literally. They flash, and then glow steadily, along with his tattoos. 

“Uh oh,” Sokka says as Aang slowly rises into the air, wind whipping around him. Long Feng's eyes go very, very wide. Zuko and Katara's bending water flies out to strike every Dai Li agent in the area, freezing them to various objects and buildings. Jet is buffeted by gusts of wind and splashing water and shaking ground.

When Aang's voice comes, it's doubled, or tripled, modulating and weird and reverberating. “You're holding Appa?”

“Aang,” Sokka says tremulously.

“Where is he?” Aang yells. Jet's ears ring and the sound drives a wedge into his skull. Sokka holds resolutely still, but he whimpers in obvious pain. Zuko groans out loud and clutches at his left ear, fingers scrabbling over the scar.

Long Feng doesn't visibly give. He keeps staring at Aang. “There's nothing you can do to me that will get your bison back. If you want him, you'll have to cooperate. Otherwise, I can order him... euthanized.”

Aang surges forward. “Aang, no!” Katara yells.

Aang's hand comes out towards Long Feng's face, and then the light vanishes from his eyes and tattoos. He drops, half-conscious, to the ground, and _Katara's_ eyes and tattoos begin glowing. She steps forward, stalking past the slumped-over Aang. More water slides across the streets, coming out of ponds and little streams, and Katara gathers it up like a tidal wave behind her, catching Long Feng's chin in her hand. Her voice isn't quite as distorted as Aang's when she speaks, but it's still very different from the sweet girl she normally sounds like, with disturbing harmonics and echoes.

“That bison is one of the few things he has left of his people, Long Feng. If you take it away from him, I'll end you myself. I don't care about consequences. I don't care about cooperating. I don't care about tactics. If you hurt him one _inch_ more than he's already been hurt, there won't be enough of you left for an _obituary.”_

Jet is impressed. Aang was kinda scary, but underneath it all, he was still just Aang. Katara is a little scary when she gets mad anyway, but this... this is unreal. She holds Long Feng's eyes with her own, and there is no escaping just how _unearthly_ those glowing eyes are.

Long Feng holds his composure for a few more moments, but soon enough, his resolve crumples under Katara's murderous gaze.

He nods. “I'll take you to the Earth King,” he says.

Jee picks up Aang. Katara remains a glowing terror as they walk towards the palace.

This is all going much better than Jet has any right to expect.

Smellerbee and Toph step up to flank him. It's a little eerie how quickly those two have synced up. They move like a single unit now.

“When the bill comes in for this victory, it's gonna be huge,” Smellerbee predicts.

If years as a guerrilla fighter have taught Jet anything, it's that Smellerbee is absolutely correct.

They are _so_ screwed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter that made me cry. Just... just so y'all know.

Jin is of the opinion that the view from atop Yeso's Lotus is better than the one from the palace. Everything seems so open here, except for the vast block of the palace itself looming over everything. They come in through the front doors, and Jin still feels freaked out by the open spaces inside of the palace. The rooms are too big, the ceilings way too high. Dai Li peer at them from every corner, but none of them dares to move.

It occurs to Jin that she is a citizen of the Earth Kingdom participating in a coup attempt against the government of the Earth Kingdom, and the only thing stopping this from being the last thing she does is that Katara is glowing and following close behind her brother and the man who seems to be in charge of the Dai Li.

“That way next,” Long Feng says.

“He's lying,” Toph replies. They point at another corridor, and then nod briskly. “That way.”

Long Feng struggles for a moment before Sokka yanks hard on his hands and the man whimpers a little in pain. They go down a long corridor and finally arrive at a pair of huge doors. Toph bends them open with a gesture.

There is a man inside. Next to him, asleep on the floor, is a shaggy brown creature that might be a platypus-bear, except that the bill isn't there. The man is sipping tea until they come in, and he stares in astonishment before blurting out “I didn't know there was entertainment scheduled for today.”

There is a brief silence. Clearly, no one is quite sure how to proceed from here. “Long Feng, is that you?” the man asks.

Jin steps forward and bows deeply. “Your majesty,” she says, “Please, forgive the... um.. the intrusion, but is this man the head of the Dai Li?”

“Yes, he is,” the Earth King says, puzzled.

Mister Jee puts Aang down behind her. Jin barely sees the hints of the movement, knows it is happening more by sound than anything else. Jin gestures for him to come forward. “He tried to arrest us. We're allies of the Avatar.” 

Jin feels this is a very bold claim for her to make about herself, but she doesn't take it back. She may not have hit anyone, but she was just in a fight on the same side as the Avatar. The Earth King stares.

Jin clears her throat. “I'm Jin, a refugee from the war.” She reaches out, and finds a hand in her own. “This is Jet,” she says, glancing at him only long enough to confirm it. “He's my soulmate. The boy holding Long Feng is Sokka. He's... um... he's from the Water Tribe—” 

“I'm the chief's son,” Sokka interrupts.

“His soulmate,” Jin gestures vaguely Zuko-ward “is the rightful heir to the Fire Throne, Prince Zuko. Next to him is Toph Beifong and their soulmate, Smellerbee. And this...” Jin points to Aang, who is looking somewhat recovered from his earlier exhaustion. “This is the Avatar. The glowing girl is his soulmate, Katara.”

The Earth King looks at them all. He shudders gently. “My mother told me once that soulmates are supposed to show up when important events are coming. What does it mean when there are four sets of soulmates in one place? Especially if one of them is the Avatar? Long Feng, why did you try to arrest these people? What war are they talking about?”

“What _war?”_ Sokka says. “The war with the Fire Nation. The one that's been going on for a hundred years!”

Long Feng smirks. “There is no war in Ba Sing Se.”

“You see,” the Earth King begins, but Jin steps forward.

“There is a war. The Fire Nation attacked a hundred years ago by killing all of the Air Nomads. They've invaded the western Earth Kingdom. They attacked Ba Sing Se yesterday! The remains of their weapon is still...” Jin turns to the others. “We need to show him the drill.”

Sokka is already smiling. “Your Majesty, perhaps Long Feng could be placed under temporary arrest until you're ready to throw him in a river?”

“But I can't leave the palace!” the Earth King objects.

“Your Majesty,” Iroh says (and it's still incredibly weird that the kind old man who gives Jin free pastries and tea is the Dragon of the West), “you are a king. There is nowhere within your realm you cannot go. If you choose to leave the palace, then it is your people's responsibility to help you go where you wish. Come, inspect the walls.”

They all head out as a group. Toph bends stone cuffs for Long Feng.

It's almost dark by the time they arrive at the wall. The Earth King has caught on to their mood. Katara lets herself stop glowing when they reach the monorail, and she sleeps the entire way to the wall, only waking up when they're all getting out. 

Jin has heard the drill described, but seeing it...

Jet tenses on her left, Suki sighs on her right. Jin grips both of their hands. The drill is a behemoth, its head buried deep into the wall. Iroh explains what happened, and then about the two-year siege that (he is so terribly sorry, Your Majesty) he led against the city, and the five-year siege that never breached the outer wall fifteen years ago.

The storm of questions and answers that follows between Long Feng and the Earth King (Kuei, apparently) doesn't go very well for Long Feng, and as the Dai Li he used to command take him away, Sokka says “well, looks like Long Feng is long gone!” and dusts his hands in satisfaction.

King Kuei smiles and turns to Aang. “I've sent for this... Appa... of yours. It shouldn't be long before he's freed.

“It better not be,” Toph says. “I hate flying, but I hate when Twinkletoes is upset a lot more. He gets so annoying.”

“I do,” Aang says.

+

It's not until they get back to Yeso's Lotus that it really registers that they've _won,_ which Aang isn't... totally used to doing.

Their little horde settles into seats together. Jet, Suki, and Jin disappear up the stairs, which is fair because they probably have a lot to talk about. Aang guides Katara to a generous chair in the corner, and she sits, and he sits basically on her lap. Katara wraps her hands around his chest and holds onto him tightly. “You took the Avatar State away,” he says.

“I used it to threaten instead of... what you were about to do,” Katara says.

Yeah. What Aang was about to do to Long Feng. He leans back further against Katara, and she presses a very gentle kiss to the top of his head. Across the room, Zuko is leaning into Sokka almost exactly the same as Aang leans into his own soulmate. Toph and Smellerbee are deep in conversation, hand in hand, with Smellerbee occasionally grabbing Longshot's hands to press them into Toph's.

“I'm here for you,” Katara says, and she shifts a little to look up as Uncle sits near them.

“You have had a very rough few days,” Uncle says. He takes Aang's hand. “I am happy that Appa will be coming back to you, and I hope that your strife will soon come to an end.” Uncle's hands are warm around Aang's. “You are a strong, wise young man, but it is... not fair, the burden you must bear.” He smiles up at Katara. “You can rely on your soulmate, because she is at least as strong and wise as you, but please know that the rest of us are here for you as well.”

Aang nods. “I know. I hope I didn't scare anyone too much today.”

“We were afraid for you, Aang, not afraid of you. And we have been afraid for you for some time. This is a scary time, and the fact that you must bear the brunt of—”

Everyone's attention is drawn by Suki coming down the stairs and marching through the shop and out the door. Aang frowns. It seems like her conversation with Jet and Jin might not have gone well. Before he can decide whether or not to go comfort her, Jin hurries after her, followed by Jet, who stops and stares at Uncle. 

“Okay, we need to talk,” Jet says.

Uncle lets go of Aang's hand and turns around. Jet has his hands on the hilts of his swords. Uncle is in a ready position, and Aang isn't sure if Uncle will be able to stop Jet from attacking without hurting him. 

Zuko stands up, and Sokka follows him. Toph leans back in her seat, and the Kyoshi warriors tense up, then Zuko crosses the room and grabs Jet's shoulder. Jet jumps and one of his swords comes halfway up before he sees Zuko. He freezes, glares at Zuko, then glares at Uncle.

Aang really wishes he was anywhere but here.

“Jet, I am ready to answer for my past, but if you think I must answer with my life, then I am afraid I must disappoint you,” Uncle says.

“Jet, please don't pick a fight with Uncle,” Zuko says. “You can't win.”

“He's _General Iroh!”_ Jet yells. 

“He is,” Jee says, coming in from the kitchen with several full teapots. “You'll also find he's a very different man than he used to be.” The seriousness of the moment is is undercut by the fact that Jee is wearing an apron with _Please Don't Feed The Cook_ embroidered on it. “Honestly, if you want to be angry at anyone from the Fire Nation, be angry at me. I still have a hard time thinking of you as an ally instead of an animal.”

“He tried to kill an entire town,” Katara points out from behind Aang. “Just because some of the people there were Fire Nation.”

“He played with Zuko's heart,” Sokka says as though this is Jet's greatest offense. In his eyes, it might be.

“You should be in prison, Jet,” Zuko says.

It's too much. Aang stands up. “You guys are right. He _should_ be in prison. And so should Uncle, and Zuko, and Jee. So should I. You think I don't know what happened at the Northern Water Tribe, but I remember it. Okay, I remember it. I remember what it was like, merged with La, and crushing... crushing all those ships! It felt _good._ I could feel the Ocean Spirit's feelings, but they were _my_ feelings, too!” Somewhere in there, he begins to sob, just a little. “I _liked_ sinking those ships! It was easy, and simple. I felt like I was finally powerful enough to change things, so I killed... I killed all of the Fire Nation soldiers I could find. There must have been thousands. I don't know. I lost count after fifty. When you have the power to do... to do what you need to, or what you're supposed to, or what you want to... it's so easy to give in and just do it. Not do it the right way, just... hurt anyone in your way until it's over! I wanted to kill those sandbenders who took Appa! I wanted to kill Long Feng.” He looks at Jet, no longer sure if he's glaring or weeping or pleading for someone to understand. “I wanted to kill you, too, Jet. When you were going to kill all those people. When you were going to kill my friends down in the village. It would have been _so easy!_ But if we all just do the easy thing and kill and get even and hate each other then it won't ever stop!”

There are tears streaming down Aang's face. His head is pounding, his hands are balled into fists at his side, and if they weren't he knows they would be shaking. His heart is pounding, and he wants so badly to curl up with Katara in the oversized chair and not say anything, not do anything, maybe just let the Fire Nation come and burn down Ba Sing Se around him.

Uncle squeezes his hand and turns to Jet. 

“Jet, I am sorry. Aang is right. You are a brave young man, and I cannot know what you have gone through. Please, do not think that I have no regrets. Every day, I mourn for those who fell because of what I have done. But... if my death is all that will bring you peace, then you may have it as soon as my work is done. Before I can give you that, I must make amends for my past. I think you have regrets, too. But there is a better way. We can forgive each other. We can move forward together, and help each other to make the world a better place. What I have done...” Uncle's voice wavers, and tears begin to stream down his face. “what I have done is so much more than what you have done, and I cannot hope to atone for it all, but there is good in forgiveness and peace in allowing yourself to let go of your hate. If you turn now and kill me, I will forgive you even if no one else does, but I hope that you do not, because I want you to be happy, and I don't think that would make you happy.”

Jet stares at Uncle. He yells. Everyone moves at once as he swings, aiming for Uncle's throat.

Uncle doesn't move to stop him.

Aang closes his eyes.

Metal clangs, and then clangs again. Jet sobs, a sound that writhes with agony of the spirit, and when Aang opens his eyes again, Jet is draped over Uncle, holding him tight while they both cry at the pain of their transgressions. Aang reaches out to hold Jet's hand. The door opens, and Suki and Jin both come in. Jin takes Jet's other hand. Zuko latches onto Jet's back, and Sokka touches his shoulder. Katara leans past Aang's shoulder, pressing him into Uncle's back, while Jee's warm hand wraps around Uncle's shoulder. Toph and Smellerbee each grab Jet by the waist, and then Longshot touches a hand to the top of Jet's head. Suki slips her fingers into Jet's thick brown hair, and the other Kyoshi Warriors join in with touches and gentle strokes of fingers.

They all stand like that for a very long time, too many in too little space feeling far too much while the whole world weighs down on top of them, and maybe it's okay, because there needs to be sadness sometimes, because tears have a power all their own to heal. 

The tea Jee brought out goes cold. When they all finally sit back down, Uncle, Jee, and Zuko go around heating up each cup. Katara holds Aang's hand under the table, and Jet, Suki, and Jin talk in hushed tones in the corner, and Toph and Smellerbee pretend they weren't crying just as much as anyone else while they snuggle into each other on the chair that Aang and Katara have abandoned. 

Everything is not okay. The world is at war and Ba Sing Se is suffering and they've all just nearly killed each other, but for the first time since the Northern Water Tribe, it feels like peace is something that might happen someday, and maybe someday is enough.


	8. Chapter 8

Around noon on the day they get Appa back, King Kuei calls them to the palace to introduce the new head of the Dai Li. Sokka is half expecting to see the king's (deeply weird) bear wearing an ill-fitting Dai Li hat and chewing up a uniform. Instead, a young woman with a shaky smile waves to him and explains that her name is Kyoyo, and she is the former senior undersecretary to King Kuei's most trusted military advisor, General Sako.

She's about twenty five years old. There was a time when Sokka would have thought that was _seriously, decrepitly elderly,_ but as he is no longer eight, he realizes that she is really far too young for this position.

“Why are you in this job?” he asks. “I mean, not that I'm questioning your ability, but... you're not from the Dai Li and you're very young.”

Kyoyo stares at the collection of papers on her desk. “Right now, what the Dai Li needs is someone to sort out who owes their loyalty where and what to do about it. That means someone from outside the agency. And they picked me because... I... um...” she blushes. “General Sako is my soulmate. When she was taken prisoner during the defense of Hu Valley, I commanded the troops for three months, organized her rescue, restructured the bureaucracy of Shi Tai Fu Pan, and pushed back against the Fireball Regiment.”

“There are five sets of soulmates in my court!” King Kuei says excitedly. “Kyoyo is the best organized, though.”

Kyoyo smiles tiredly. “The Dai Li is a mess. Long Feng may have looked very put together on the outside, but his system was just... deliberately bad.” This last, she says like it's a personal affront to her. It might be. “I guess if you've been treasonously using the rightful ruler as a pawn for almost thirty years, it pays to be impenetrable. Anyways, I found these in his documents. Prince Zuko, you first.”

Sokka feels Zuko twitch gently beside him, and he grabs his hand. It can't be anything too bad, right? Kyoyo hands him three rolled messages, and Zuko takes them, staring down at the seals on them: one from the Northern Water Tribe, one from the Fire Nation, and one he doesn't recognize. Curious, Sokka pokes the mystery missive. Zuko opens it, sighs, and shows it to Sokka.

_Aunt Wu, of Makapu Village, to Zuko, Future Fire Lord,_

_It has come to my attention that your soulmate's entanglements, while complex and difficult to understand, may not be identical to your own. I offer you a reading, and implore you to come receive it soon, as it may be necessary understand the future in order for you to navigate the days ahead correctly._

_Aunt Wu_

_PS, please tell your uncle I said hello._

Huh.

Well, that's different.

Kyoyo interrupts Sokka's train of thought by handing another letter to Katara, one with Dad's seal on it, and then one to Aang, and a small pile to Uncle and Jee, who exchange a meaningful look exactly like the married couple they've been pretending to be for a month or so. Toph gets a letter last, scoffing and handing it to Smellerbee with a sullen “It's from my mom, isn't it? 'Dear Toph, you are an unruly child who is fragile and delicate like a fucking orchid, fucking come home so we can put you in with the fine dishwares, I am a giant fucking asshole, love mommy.'”

Katara does that thing where she tries really hard to be mature and well-behaved and not immediately start cackling. It doesn't work, and she and Aang both collapse into giggles while Toph looks smugly pleased with herself. Smellerbee grins and pops open the letter, skimming it before saying “Basically, yeah.”

“I'm gonna introduce them to you like 'hey Mom, hey Dad, this is my soulmate, the knife-collecting lady terrorist. We're gonna go stab the Fire Lord together.”

Sokka loses it at that, and even Uncle starts belly laughing, while Zuko sighs gustily. He puts a hand over Sokka's, and they all take a seat to read their letters.

The room becomes somber pretty quickly. Zuko opens the Fire Nation letter first.

In a neat, careful hand, it begins with _”To Zuko, who is no longer my son,”_

Zuko ignites one corner of the letter and drops it on the floor. “I've got better dads than that now,” Zuko says. Sokka considers stomping out the fire and poring over the letter for any intelligence Ozai might have let slip. He decides it's not worth it. Zuko opens the next letter. 

This one is from Yue. 

_Dear Zuko and Sokka,_

_I am beginning to learn about Fire Nation culture to prepare for our upcoming ascension to the throne. Yes, you should be worried. Pakku says that I will have no real power, but I told him that, as the smart one, I'll have more power than both of you combined._

_The city is recovering well. We finally ended the official mourning period a few days ago, when we finished funeral rites for the last of the dead. The wall is rebuilt, but everyone is terrified of another attack, since the wall wasn't enough last time, and we have so few benders left. I can't imagine how frightening it must have been for you in the Southern Tribe, Sokka, with your sister as the only one left._

_Father's fastest scouts have been sent to find any other villages in the south, and we hope we are not too late. I'm so sorry it took this happening to make our people think of our sister tribes, but I know I'll never forget the rest of the world again. If you two hadn't been there, Zhao would have succeeded in his mission, and I would certainly be dead. I hope you know that I plan to travel a lot when we have peace. I think that might be the only way to make sure that after the end of this war, we never see the start of another. It's only by understanding each other and not letting ourselves forget each other's importance that we'll be able to build a new world._

_Sokka, you are brilliant and so, so strong. I know that you doubt yourself too much, so please, when Zuko tells you all the reasons he loves you, listen to him. Most of those are reasons I love you, too (we disagree about whether or not your singing voice is cute, but that is because Zuko is cruel). Zuko, you are amazing and kind and very, very sweet. When Sokka tells you you're being too hard on yourself,_ listen to him, _because he is right._

_I've included some Water Tribe recipes for Zuko and Aang to try, so let me know how they go over._

_All my love,_

_Yue_

Sokka pokes through the papers curled up inside of the letter, and sure enough, there are a few recipes, including several he has never tried. He is about to show Katara when she calls his name from across the room, tremulously.

“Katara?” Sokka says.

“I think you need to come see this,” she says. “I got a letter from Dad. He wants one of us to come and meet him.”

“I need to go to Makapu Village, apparently,” Zuko says.

“It sounds like we need to compare notes and do some planning,” Uncle says. “Your Majesty, please, sit with us. I think this will probably be important for you, too.”

+

So.

A month and a half of wandering around the eastern coast of the Earth Kingdom has left Bato... a little frazzled. A good, long cuddle with Hakoda has done a lot to help, but it can't fix everything. They're set up in Chameleon Bay, not far away from Ba Sing Se, and they've been here for nearly a week. The Fire Navy keeps approaching the bay, looking terribly like they might go in to investigate, and Hakoda is going to have to start packing up to raid elsewhere soon.

Bato has been going over their charts for several hours when a loud shout makes him look up, and he nearly collapses with relief at the sight of the Avatar's sky bison. Sokka, Aang, and Zuko climb down from the saddle. For a minute, Bato is terrified: where is Katara? But then it occurs to him that if Aang is okay, then Katara must be okay as well. Hakoda is running to embrace his son, and Bato smiles as he comes up and scoops up Zuko in a hug of his own. They all laugh when Helak, apparently not wanting the Avatar to feel left out, grabs Aang and hugs him while loudly shouting “my long lost boy!” with all of his usual melodrama.

They head into the war tent together.

“We've all got different places to go,” Sokka says. “I'm giving Zuko my waterbending so he can practice while he's away before we leave. We got a letter from Yue, too. She says the North is sending help to our people.”

Bato sighs. Sokka loves the girl, and so does Zuko, so he won't loudly complain about how it's about damn time.

He still thinks it really hard.

“I was hoping Aang and Zuko could stay here for dinner before they head out,” Sokka continues. “Aang is going to go talk to some sort of guru at the Eastern Air Temple, and then they'll go to Makapu Village so Zuko can talk to the fortuneteller there because my soulmate is gullible,” Zuko sticks his tongue out, and Sokka kisses him, “then they'll come back and get me. So, I'll have a couple of weeks with you.”

“Where's Katara?” Bato asks.

“She's in Ba Sing Se, helping the Earth King learn about the war and working on strategy with Uncle and the generals.” Sokka's eyes slip closed, like a man desperately seeking serenity. “And Jet. Jet is there, too.”

“Isn't Jet the one who tried to kill you and Zuko?” Hakoda asks. His face is darkening slowly. Bato rests a hand on Hakoda's shoulder and pulls him into a gentle embrace.

“Yeah!” Aang says. “He's nice now, though.”

Right.

Murderboy is nice now.

Somehow, Bato has his doubts on that one.

Hakoda sits Sokka and Zuko down on either side of him. “I'll have to take your word for that, Aang,” he says while Bato sits next to the Avatar. “Now, how about you three tell me all about my military strategist genius favorite child.”

Sokka laughs while Zuko looks stricken. He reaches across his father to take his soulmate's hand. “It's okay, he doesn't mean it like that.”

“Good,” Zuko says. “Because that just made Katara sound like... water-Azula.”

+

“The Water Girl is still here.” Azula frowns, and Ty Lee tries very hard not to be eager about this news. She knows that they aren't here to make friends, but it's very hard not to want to. She peeks around the corner. Azula has been so determined since she picked them up. There's an intensity to her that doesn't tolerate many distractions, and she's been ignoring her little collection of injuries. “Your uncle is here, too,” she says. “And the sexy ladies with the murder-fans.”

“The Kyoshi Warriors,” Mai says evenly.

“Exactly. Sexy ladies with murder-fans.” Ty Lee steps out and brings the tray with the cold teapot to General Iroh.

“Ah,” he says. “Thank you, young lady. Are you available for one more errand?”

Ty Lee nods. “Yes, General.”

He hands her a folded sheet of paper. “Please bring this downstairs to Miss Kyoyo.”

Ty Lee takes the paper, bows to the General, and hurries back to Azula and Mai.

“What did he give you?” Azula demands. She snatches it away from Ty Lee, which... rude... and unfolds it. Then she smiles. “Take it where it's going. We have a way to contact Long Feng.”

“You know he won't be loyal to us,” Mai says as they all start towards Miss Kyoyo's offices.

“Of course not,” Azula says. “I'm sure we'll have to kill him. But that's the fun part.”

Ty Lee is never entirely sure how serious Azula is with that sort of comment. The princess waves her off as they split up at the corner, Azula and Mai going off to the kitchens and Ty Lee heading for Miss Kyoyo's offices. When they were children, Azula never really seemed to mean it. She was always intense, of course, but never... never like she is now. Now, there is an unmistakable edge of panic around her oldest friend, and Ty Lee doesn't like it: Azula's aura is a polluted thing these days, not the shy, muddy grey of Mai but a brilliant blue shot through with pain.

Miss Kyoyo opens the door to Ty Lee, flashing her a tired smile. She takes the message, reads it over, and nods. “Come and take a break,” she says, “while I write my reply. I haven't seen you before. What's your name?”

“Ty Lee,” comes the honest answer, because it's a common enough name everywhere but the Water Tribes.

Miss Kyoyo sits. Ty Lee squints at her, and Miss Kyoyo tilts her headquizzically at the expression. By way of explanation, Ty Lee says “your aura is purple. And stretched. You have a soulmate, don't you?”

Miss Kyoyo nods. “I do. General Sako. She's out in the field right now while all the less-competent generals play with their maps.”

Huh. General Sako destroyed the Seventh Royal Regiment last year in that big throwdown outside of Aganaz. Ty Lee... had no idea Sako had a soulmate. She quietly adds this information to her analysis of the Earth Kingdom.

“I've always wanted a soulmate,” Ty Lee says. “It's so romantic.”

Miss Kyoyo sets to writing her response for General Iroh. As she writes, she answers, “it's less romantic than you think. Of course, Sako and I are head over heels in love with each other, but we can barely be together. It's too dangerous for me to be on the front lines, even though I'm the better earthbender, and sharing our pain might sound romantic, but it mostly just hurts. Besides, this is Ba Sing Se. If you had a soulmate, you might be used as a messaging service.” She lifts up her left arm and her sleeve drops to show that she is covered with tangled scars: messages have been carved into her skin, or into her soulmate's skin. It looks incredibly painful.

“You didn't get a choice about that, did you?” Ty Lee asks.

Miss Kyoyo shakes her head, and she dashes off the last of her reply before sealing the whole thing with wax. “Sometimes, I think it's why she's my soulmate. It's the only reason we won at Aganaz.”

Ty Lee sighs, watching the seal on the message drying. She wants so badly to open it, to steal a look, but she can't. “I still think it sounds romantic.”

Miss Kyoyo shrugs. “You're welcome to your opinion.”

+

“I think we need to talk about it,” Jin says when Jet comes into the shop. She is sitting there, _waiting for him_ like a trapdoor spider cat.

Jet very much wants to turn around and leave. He doesn't. Toph, Smellerbee, and Longshot are upstairs, arguing enthusiastically with Lieutenant Jee. Down here, the customers are all gone and it's just Jet and Jin.

No Suki. Suki would be nice to have around. She keeps them both on an even keel ~~with the threat of violence and the promise of affection.~~

“Talk about what?” Jet starts for the kitchen. He's not sure what he's going to do, since he has burned himself all but three times he's tried to make tea. Jin slips past him and steps up to the little stove, grabbing Jet's favorite herbal blend. 

“Smellerbee says you didn't figure out that I'm your soulmate until you met the Avatar. She also says a lot of rude things about you that I'm not going to repeat because you've definitely heard them all. And Jet?” Jin turns around and leans against the counter next to the stove. “I understand. I mean, not all of it, obviously. I didn't go through what you went through. I made basically the opposite decision to you every step of the way. My family left Misty Steppe before the Fire Nation arrived, I've run my whole life, I've stayed out of trouble. But you know how much life has kicked me around anyway, and maybe I'm ready to kick it back. And I know how much you've been hurt, too. And you deserved some of it. Sokka told me what you did at Gaipan.” She taps her left cheek, where the skin is marred by the lines of the scrape against rough bark. “I don't regret this scar. But you're me with less luck and more fight, and from now on you're stuck with me because that's what soulmates are, Jet. You and me are supposed to be with each other.”

Jet's jaw is clenched, and when he does that too much it makes his teeth hurt, so he loosens the muscles and tries to think of something soothing.

~~Like kissing Zuko.~~

“Jin, I'm... You know I'm...”

“Extremely in love with a boy who hates you and is way out of your league?” Okay, that hurts. “Jet, I understand. About Zuko. But I'm not asking you to be in love with me. I'm asking you to _trust_ me and work with me, and not just when there's a fight going on.” She shrugs. “I mean, you know I'm with Suki. Even if she doesn't like it, she's more invested in you being my soulmate than you are.”

Jet frowns. Jin is right, of course. There was a time when all he wanted was to find Jin, take her away somewhere, and settle down. Find peace. But...

But then the Dai Li happened. And yeah, the purity of feeling when they recognized each other was one of the most incredible things he's ever experienced, and yes, Jin has proven to be an able athlete and one of the smoothest talkers Jet has ever met in his life, but he can't settle down with her, because it isn't a matter of hiding safely behind walls or finding a place where the war can't touch them. The fight...

“The fight won't leave me, Jin,” Jet says.

“I know,” she replies. “I share your scars. That means it won't leave me, either. So maybe you ought to teach me to fight so we can watch each other's backs. Next time a bunch of earthbenders try to brainwash you, count on me to get you out. But you and I have to start moving together.”

The kettle starts to whistle. Jin takes it off the flame and sets about making the tea, taking her time so that it will be the right temperature when it starts to steep. 

“I... Jin, I'm really fucked up.”

Jin sets his tea down in front of him and starts making her own cup of green. “Misty Steppe had this wall around the town. It was painted white, so it was hard to see in the mists. The town was at the bottom of a little dip in the plains. Shallow, but enough so it was incredibly hard to find. The Fire Nation took three towns to the east of us before the scouts found us. It seemed like every place we stopped between Misty Steppe and Ba Sing Se had been the site of a massacre. I was so young, and I saw so much death. And then I got here, to the place that was supposed to keep me safe, and all that 'no war' nonsense wasn't just a catchy slogan, it was a policy. The public tutors taught that what I'd gone through was either an exception or an exaggeration. There were people who were on that journey with me who decided they hadn't seen what I saw. My own mother stopped believing me, and then...” Jin crosses the room. There are tears making a bid for freedom in her eyes, and she wipes them away before continuing. “Believe me Jet, I'm pretty fucked up, too.”

Jet frowns. “You learned from losing, too, didn't you?”

Jin pulls at her tea. It must be uncomfortably hot. “Yeah. Now it's time we figured out winning.”

“Are you sure you want me?” Jet asks.

Jin rolls her eyes. “Yes, idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, Ty Lee just has good taste in troops of sexy ladies with murder-fans.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for discussion of child abuse in the last scene.

“Suki?”

“Yes, Sohi?”

“Why is every girl in the Earth Palace insanely hot?”

Suki grins. Sohi is one of the sweetest and most skilled girls she's ever trained, but at thirteen, she's also _way_ too young for all this. It's just that when you're actively losing a war, sometimes you can't protect everyone. Suki wishes Sohi could grow into herself at home, but instead, she's getting her first crushes on the road and in the Earth Palace and on battlefields.

The crush on Smellerbee is super understandable though: it's the swords.

“Who did you see this time?” Suki asks.

Sohi sighs. “I don't know. She's new. Pretty close to my age. She's so peppy and happy, and she has these gorgeous sort of pale brown eyes. She brought Uncle Iroh his tea, and then she brought me a pastry.”

“You didn't catch her name?” Suki says.

Sohi nods.

“Right. Well, a warrior needs to know her surroundings. Talk to this girl. Learn about her.” Suki's grin loses its fight to not become an outright smirk. “Maybe try taking her on a date.”

Sohi turns bright red as they come into the room where the Kyoshi Warriors are staying. It makes more sense for them to stay in the palace than at Uncle's tea shop, and Suki appreciates the move because it lets her take Jin into the palace itself on dates, which is ~~definitely not going to last~~ amazing.

In their room, Shi and Wori are having a pillow fight, which, between Kyoshi Warriors, is a serious affair. Shi is wielding a pair of throw pillows and fending off a shockingly-fast series of blows from Wori's spinning improvised blanket-flails. Wori, both larger and older, has the advantage here, so Sohi joins in on Shi's side. Suki ignores them and goes to her bunk to sit and watch.

This hasn't happened for almost a year. Not since Dela. Suki used to be in the habit of breaking these fights up, because they're loud and disruptive and they get the girls used to the wrong weights for their weapons, and they tear fabric and deform pillows, but...

But this is a palace. Fuck it. And for the first time in a year there's an adult with more authority than her and more power, who is protecting her behind walls that she can trust to keep her safe.

This is a lie, of course, but one pillow fight won't kill them. When Bon Lin arrives, the last of the warriors to return to their room at night, the fight is still going strong, Imbon having replaced an exhausted Wori after the latter took a hard blow to the temple. Suki gets up, and says, cheerfully, “have fun kicking their asses, Bon Lin. I'll be back later.”

The pillow fights are still really annoying, but she's not going to take this away from them, nor is she going to let them take it away from themselves. 

Twenty minutes later, in the kitchens, she meets Sohi's mystery girl, a ridiculously cheery girl named Ty Lee, who is happily annoying the total pissing dammit out of a glum, disinterested girl who barely puts up a pretense of not being a noble's daughter out looking for some kind of life experience that will make her parents angry.

Suki briefly entertains the idea of going to find Jin so they can work together on making Glum Girl's parents angry, but then Ty Lee brings her a pastry and sits down. “You look unhappy,” she says.

Suki takes the pastry. It's like one of those awful lower-ring creations, only there's just the four spices and none of them are angry at her. She chews thoughtfully. “I'm not,” she says after a few bites. “But I'm not... happy, either?”

“Tell me about it,” Ty Lee says.

“Ty Lee,” Glum Girl says warningly, and in an almost perfect monotone.

“No, no, I mean it.” Ty Lee reaches across the table to pat Suki's hand.

Suki takes in a deep breath. “Okay. What do you know about soulmates?”

“Oh, lots,” Ty Lee enthuses. “I always wished I had one!”

Suki stares at her pastry. Maybe her pastry can make everything better. “Well, my girlfriend met her soulmate a few days ago. He's gone through some... rough times. They didn't get along very well, but they're getting better, and... I don't think she's really okay with having more than one partner. I'm happy for her, but I'm worried she's gonna leave for him.”

Ty Lee frowns and leans back. There is no back on the bench-style seats by the kitchen tables, so she just sort of keeps going. It's an impressive display, really. Once the crown of her head is resting on the floor, she speaks again. “My friend's brother found his soulmate and left the family behind to go traveling together. Her father was very upset, and I think she's pretty sad about it, too.” Ty Lee pulls herself smoothly up into a sitting position with ab muscles alone, which is impressive.

“You're both nobles, aren't you?” Suki says, pointing to Ty Lee and Glum Girl. Ty Lee nods.

“We wanted to try real work. It's kind of fun, actually.”

“I like making pastries,” Glum Girl says. “The secret ingredient is usually butter, even if the chef tells you it's love.”

“Anyway, I think you should talk to your girlfriend. The only time talking honestly doesn't help is when you're spying on people.”

“Ty Lee,” Glum Girl says again, and Ty Lee sighs.

Suki laughs. “It's okay. I think maybe I should try some of that honesty.”

+

The charade is over. Most of the customers at the shop still believe it, and Jee refuses to explain ~~because it's a little depressing~~ because it's not really any of their business. Of course, they're all very worried about “Mushi,” who has charmed them very thoroughly. 

“He's been setting up a new tea shop in the upper ring,” Jee tells them when they ask after his “husband,” and then he goes back to ~~not thinking about it~~ doing his job. This generates excitement.

Jee is happy to have Longshot, Jet, and Smellerbee to help him manage the shop in the General's absence. They make everything so much easier, even if Jet still can't be trusted with hot water. At least Smellerbee has stopped burning herself. This may have to do with a certain Blind Bandit sitting in the corner, daring Jee to notice their multiple cups of free tea.

Jee notices, but says nothing. Soulmates drink for free. This is not the General's stated shop policy, but it is effectively true, since Zuko drinks for free, and the Avatar drinks for free, and it would be counterproductive to make their soulmates pay, and Jin drinks for free because of Suki, and stopping Smellerbee from giving her soulmate free drinks is not worth the argument.

Suki comes in as Jee is considering going to sit with Toph. He escorts her to a table and sits her down. “How are you, Suki?” he asks.

Suki buries her face in her arms. “I hate honesty,” she says.

~~Well, if that's the problem, Jee is going to be slightly less than zero help.~~

Smellerbee sets a mug down in front of each of them and wanders off to go get tea started for them. “What's wrong?” Jee asks.

“I just broke up with Jin,” Suki says. “It was mutual. I asked her to talk about Jet and she said that she needs time to figure out how things are going to go with him, and it's all so many emotions that she can't be a very good girlfriend right now, and I said I don't think I can have just one partner and she said I should go and be with Sokka. I mean... what... I don't know what to do.”

Jee stares at his yet-unfilled cup, and no advice comes into his head until Smellerbee fills it. She offers a pat on the back, first to Suki, then to Jee. “The General is much better at this sort of advice,” he says tentatively, “so if you ask him for a second opinion, I won't be offended.” Suki nods, giving Jee a watery smile. “You and Jin have only known each other for a couple of weeks. Sometimes things like this don't work out, and that's okay. I... have had some romantic disappointments in the past.” ~~The present doesn't really count.~~ “The General always says to understand your own feelings. That's an important thing for a... person like us to do. A bender draws power from many things: their stance, their breath, the world around them, but they also draw it from their emotions. Your feelings change how you deal with the world, right?”

Jee has exactly no idea where he is going with this advice. The loud banging on the roof is almost a relief. He looks at his tea, frowns at it as footsteps above make a panicky descent down the stairs, and he focuses to pull enough heat away from the drink that he can start chugging.

The cup is about half empty when Sokka rushes into the shop proper. “Aang had a vision, Katara's in danger, we have to go to the palace _now!”_ The Water Tribe boy says. There are smudges of war paint on his face, and he is wide-eyed. 

_Oh, Agni be praised, that fucking conversation is over._

Suki leaps up, and Toph bounds to their feet in the corner, and Smellerbee, Jet, and Longshot all emerge at once from the kitchen.

Jee takes in a deep breath and lets out the sentence he's been longing for since they arrived in Ba Sing Se. “Shop's closed, everybody out!”

Toph and Smellerbee jump to it, kicking people out. Jet hurries to Suki. “Where's Jin?” he asks.

“She's with Katara and Uncle at the Palace,” Suki says.

“Cool,” Toph says. “Let's go.” They stomp on the floor, and a hole opens up. Toph and Smellerbee jump down. Jee shrugs, and follows behind with Sokka, Suki, and Jet.

Toph is somewhere beyond great, as far as benders go. Jee has never once wanted to tangle with them, and he's pretty confident of his abilities. “What's Sparky bending right now?” Toph asks, casually launching them all at what feels like inadvisable speeds underneath the city.

“Water,” Sokka says as darkness covers them all. Jee bends a flame into the palm of his hand. The light picks out Sokka's burns, and the red lines on Toph and Smellerbee's faces, turning each mark lurid and ghastly. Jee burns a little brighter to dispel the effect. “Between Uncle and Jee, we'll have plenty of fire power, but you know how good Zuko is with water.”

“He's not afraid of it,” Jee says.

Sokka nods, lips pursed. 

“Am I coming up in the throne room or just outside of the palace?” Toph asks.

“Just outside,” Sokka says. 

Jet tests his swords. Suki checks her own weapons. Sokka adjusts his light leather armor and pulls out his boomerang and sword. He's still using the oversized one from the _Snapdragon's_ armory, although he's grown enough in the last few months that it's starting to be the right size for him.

They start to head up, and they emerge, picture-perfect, just outside the palace's doors.

The Dai Li are waiting for them there.

That's a trifling detail that won't stop Toph.

+

When someone tosses King Kuei bodily into the war room, everyone freezes. It's not every day that a reigning monarch skids on his butt through the room you're planning a war in, and nobody reacts like lightning. The first to move is Katara, slamming into a bending stance, then Iroh whirls and stares at the door, then all of the earthbender generals in the room move, but before anyone can really assess what's happening, a wave of azure flames follows the Earth King inside. Iroh _pushes_ hard against the fire, feeling a dreadfully strong chi moving against him. 

When Azula steps into the war room, Iroh flinches.

Her hair has been ravaged by what she's gone through the last few months. Once long and luxurious, now it flies in uneven, choppy locks, pulled out of its ties by some scuffle or another. Her face is scarred, too: a few minor burns here and there, and a few long scrapes Iroh can't identify. She wears dusty Earth Kingdom servants' clothes as do the girls who burst through the doors behind her, one short and moving like a gymnast, the other tall and already throwing knives. Katara and the generals move to block, but then...

Then the Dai Li turn on them.

Something hits Iroh in the back of the head, and the whole world goes fuzzy. He can see the Dai Li taking down generals and subduing Katara. He tries to firebend, but everything is foggy, and then there are hard strikes to key points and his body stops responding altogether.

He blacks out for a few minutes, and when he comes to, he is strapped to a chair. A glance to the left shows him King Kuei. A glance to the right shows him Prince Zuko.

Azula sits on a throne. The Earthen Throne.

“Azula,” Iroh begins, but she shushes him. 

“You betrayed me at the North Pole, Uncle,” she says. “But it taught me something. See, now I know that you're not a silly old man. You're dangerous.” She shrugs. “That's okay. So am I. But see, right now, I have a problem. Father was furious when I lost the fleet." She glares at Prince Zuko. "If I was you, Zuzu, I'd be dead. As it is...” Azula pulls back her right sleeve to reveal a burn, shaped just like a hand, wrapped around her forearm. “Obviously, Father has decided I'm a disgrace, too. He said not to come back until I had you, and your Water Tribe Boy, and the Avatar, and Ba Sing Se.” She smiles at Iroh. “I was just supposed to kill you, Uncle. I don't really mind that, but I might have a use for you.”

Iroh twitches his wrists. His bonds are stone, not leather. That makes sense, and also is very disappointing.

Actually, he's a little proud of his niece. She's thought of everything.

“I'm taking this city,” Azula says, “but I'm not giving it to Father. He's made it very clear that the only way I'll ever be safe is if I'm the Fire Lord.”

“Azula, that is not safety!” Iroh shakes his head. “You cannot—” 

“I can, and I will. First the Earth Crown, then the Fire Crown. No one burns me. Not even Father. I'm not _Zuzu,_ after all.” Zuko twitches a little next to Iroh. “But, this does mean you have a chance to join me. I'm not some kind of fanatic like Father. I won't have my own flesh and blood killed just because he's a fancy little lightning lure. You can have your boy toy, Zuzu. Just do what you were supposed to do and catch the Avatar.

Iroh turns to look at Zuko. “You want to be the Earth Queen and the Fire Lord?” Zuko says.

“Of course I do! Girls just want to have power, Zuzu.”

“And glory,” the tall girl with the knives says.

“And glory,” Azula agrees. “And this gets me both. And all you have to do is join me. You get your boy, you get to be a real prince again, I'll even give you your boy's old village as part of your lands. He's Southern Tribe, right?”

“Azula, think about this,” Iroh exclaims. “The Earth Kingdom has been losing this war for a hundred years! This is not a crown of glory, it is a crown of madness, and it will kill you!”

Azula rolls her eyes. “You're witnessing the start of something new, Uncle! You're at the crossroads of destiny, and you're about to turn the wrong way!”

Azula used to be such a promising child. A prodigy, coming to her bending early and taking to her studies with the same kind of rampant skill. Iroh never worried about her the way he worried about Zuko, and when Lu Ten... when Iroh lost his son and came home, Azula was strong and Zuko...

Zuko was the one touched by destiny.

Zuko was the one who bore Ozai's wrath.

Zuko was the one Ozai burned.

But now, Azula is still holding up her right arm, Iroh's own brother's hand burned into her flesh, and it makes so much sense, it makes so much sense that it's a kind of horrible pain clutching at his chest, like seeing Zuko's eye without the bandages for the first time, like seeing what they brought back when Lu Ten died. How long did Iroh expect Azula to be safe?

What kind of man leaves even one child with a monster?

Iroh's vision blurs. “I am so sorry,” he begins, but then Zuko interrupts him.

“You're right, Azula.”

Iroh blinks. He looks up. Azula is smiling. “I'll help you get Aang,” Zuko continues. “He trusts me.”


	10. Chapter 10

Jet has snuck in and out of a lot of places. The Earth Palace is... up there as far as difficulty, danger, and the raw wealth of the people who live there goes. Weirdly, it only actually _tops_ the wealth scale. The Dai Li headquarters was more difficult, and the most dangerous will always be that one Fire Nation stronghold east of Gaipan.

_Fuck_ that place was just... wrong.

“Ow,” Sokka says beside him. He holds up his right hand and stares. Blood is welling up on his arm, and he pulls his sleeve back, still wincing. He wipes at the wound after a minute. Characters in Fire Sea Standard Trade Language are carved into his arm. “Oh shit Azula survived the North Pole,” Sokka whispers.” He flinches again for a few moments while Jet drags him into an alcove. Suki, Toph, Smellerbee, Longshot, and Jee play lookout. “Long Feng is dead, Azula has the Dai Li. We have to get out.” More wincing. _“Fucking_ shit ass fuck crap. Nobody knows where Aang and Katara went. Smellerbee, hand me a knife.”

Smellerbee slaps a knife into Sokka's palm, and he squeezes his eyes shut as he carves a message into his own left arm, then he gets Suki to help bandage him up. “Zuko's coming to meet us,” he says. “We should stay where we are.”

Oh, _that_ sounds like a _great_ idea.

“Sokka, that's his _sister,”_ Jet points out.

“He's my soulmate,” Sokka says.

“Did you choose your soulmate over your sister?” Jet asks. Sokka pauses. 

He shakes his head. “That's _completely different,_ Jet.”

“No, it's not. Sokka, we have to—” 

“There you are,” Zuko says behind Jet. Jet turns and the others step out of their little alcove.

Then the Dai Li attack them. It's not much of a fight for most of them. Jet and Toph are the only ones who hang back, largely because Toph grabs Jet's wrist and yanks him _through a wall_ while the others are moving out into the hall.

“Toph!” Jet yells. 

Toph stomps once, and they plunge through the floor into a hallway below. Toph starts running. “You have a soulmate to find, Shaggy.”

Jet takes off after them. “What about you?”

“I'm the Blind Bandit! I don't _find_ my soulmate, I go get her.” Toph sweeps their left arm out suddenly and a Dai Li agent is crushed against the far wall even as he turns a corner ahead of them. Jet sighs. He starts to pull out a knife. He'll have to pull Zuko and Sokka's...

okay, ow. Apparently, Jin is way ahead of him, because writing is appearing on his skin. He pauses to read it.

“Get us to the roof,” Jet says. “The rest of the Kyoshi Warriors are up there with Aang and Appa!”

Dai Li agents are starting to come out of every door. A hole opens up in the ceiling, but Toph shifts and _lifts_ barely showing even the slightest strain, and they're rushing up through the palace again. Surprised earthbenders and astonished servants flash past Jet's eyes. Toph lifts again as they slow, and then they're out on the roof.

So is everyone else. Jin is back-to-back with Wori, who was already Jet's favorite, but has now gained extra points by protecting his soulmate and also apparently lending her a dagger, if the styling on Jin's weapon is anything to go by. Aang is laying waste left and right with airbending and earthbending that shields and attacks as much as possible. Katara sweeps her bending water in a series of wide circles around them, glaring as a girl Jet doesn't know but can guess is probably Azula throws blue fire and two other girls make a steady, all-too-fast approach. One of them, tall and elegant, is throwing knives ~~and she's extremely good at it and it's kinda hot~~ while another rushes through the battlefield. Two of the Kyoshi Warriors, Imbon and Shi, are down, struggling, by all appearances, with paralyzed limbs. 

There are more Dai Li here by the second.

Jet fights to Jin's side, taking over defending her back. He'd defend her front, too, but apparently, she's got this, because if she didn't, she wouldn't still be up. Jet's blades slice the air in neat, practiced arcs around him, smacking flying rocks down and away while Toph joins in with a shout, and then...

“Stop!” Zuko yells, swinging up onto the roof. “Aang! Aang, listen! Trust me, Aang. Stop fighting.” Behind Zuko, there are a dozen Dai Li agents, dragging Sokka, Smellerbee, and Longshot behind them. Aang stops fighting. Everything goes horribly silent. Zuko crosses the roof of the palace. “What my sister is doing here... Aang, she's going to stop my father.”

Azula smirks. “See, Avatar?”

“No!” Jet yells, because it can't end like this, it can't end by changing out a tyrant for a tyrant, an empire for an empire. Jin reaches back and grips Jet's hand. Aang's bison makes a low growling sound behind them. The knife-monkey (Momo?) lands on Zuko's shoulder and drops something into his hand. A dagger.

Zuko approaches Azula. He stands in front of her. “Momo stole this from you the first time you met. I'm keeping it.” He reaches into a pocket somewhere at his side and slowly brings his hand up, palm spread. There is another knife in his hand, its design simpler, straight instead of wickedly curved. “I'm giving you this one, instead.” He presses the new knife into her hands. “I should have realized you cared about me before Father burned you. I'm sorry. Maybe, together, we could have stopped all this.” His hands drop, and then, as he breathes deep, they come up to cup his sister's face.

Yeah, right. This little show isn't going to convince anyone that the Fire Nation belongs in control of Ba Sing Se. But what can Jet do to stop it? He squeezes Jin's hand and starts planning his escape route. The bison is the best way out.

Zuko drops his hands again, then they come up to her shoulders.

“I didn't think you had it in you to see reason, Zuzu,” Azula says. She looks at the knife in her hand. “Your favorite for my favorite? I guess that's a fair trade. _Prince_ Zuko.”

Zuko nods, drops his hands, and raises them up again, spread to his sides in an unconvincing gesture of helplessness. He takes a deep breath. “I haven't even kissed my boyfriend since I captured him,” Zuko says.

How is that relevant?

+

Oh. Okay.

So when Zuko said to trust him, he really did have a plan in mind. Aang looks down at the rooftop around them. The gently sloped tiles are covered in a thin layer of water. It must be an awful strain for Zuko to bend all that on his own.

Of course, he doesn't need to bend it all alone anymore.

Aang spreads his hands to waterbend, and Zuko and Katara move almost simultaneously, freezing the water Zuko has quietly brought up. The Dai Li around them stare, and Aang jumps up, bending a wind that knocks most of them down. Everyone on Azula's side is suddenly scrabbling for purchase on a world gone slick with frost. 

Toph was ready, of course. She gestures, big, strong movements that throw their allies towards Appa. Aang angles his descent, grabs Sokka, and tosses him towards Appa.

Katara scrambles into the saddle. Jet charges the cheery Fire Nation girl, Jin throws her dagger right at one of the Dai Li who stayed on their feet, and they're actually _doing it_ they're _getting away,_ and it might actually be okay for once.

Aang grabs Suki by the hand and starts pulling her up while Jet and Jin beat a fighting retreat towards Appa.

“ZUKO!” Azula yells. Aang turns. She is moving, twisting through a kata Aang doesn't recognize. Zuko is climbing into the saddle. Aang dives to protect him, to scoot him up further and faster, to


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for Zuko having a panic attack in his scene.

Sokka takes off without them. She can't really blame him, since he has little other choice. Azula hit Aang with that strike, and the Dai Li are closing in. Suki is already taking advantage of the slick roof tiles to charge towards Azula before she can throw more lightning around because apparently, Azula can throw lightning around (Suki makes a note to freak out about that later). She crashes into the firebender, and they both go sliding across the roof, tiles rattling under them, repeatedly striking Azula's head.

This is gonna suck. Suki might not need that note to freak out later because there might not be a later for her.

They go over the side. Something catches Suki by the foot, and there's a lot of shouting overhead. Suki loses her grip on Azula, and Azula plummets down, throwing blue flames and screaming. The firebender hits the ground, rolls, and lays sprawled as Suki looks up. Jet's shuang gou is hooked around her ankle. He strains to pull her up, but Suki swings herself forward and hits the wall. She unhooks, slams a knife into the palace wall, and slows her fall as much as she can.

Hitting the ground still isn't comfortable, but it's better than it probably was for poor Azula. Suki looks towards the prone form of

Azula is gone. Apparently, she survived that. Naturally.

Suki charges towards the palace. Uncle is still in there, and so is the Earth King, if her Kyoshi Warriors are right. The throne room doesn't take long to reach. 

There are four Dai Li agents just outside. Suki freezes. The agents have seen her. She darts to the side just as stone cuffs whip past her. There's a door, and very little time, and Suki runs through the door and almost chokes.

King Kuei's bear is in the room, along with a lot of feed and a lot of... bear shit.

Hm.

Suki can use this.

“Bosco,” Suki says, “Bosco, come on.” The bear, minus his little hat and little coat, looks up. “You know tricks, right?”

Bosco grunts at her. Suki grins. “Come on.” She opens the door, and Bosco goes through, into the hall.

“Shit!” one of the Dai Li yells. Suki draws a throwing knife out of her belt and throws it over Bosco's shoulder. It thuds satisfyingly into the man who's just made the yelling mistake.

“YAH, BOSCO, ATTACK!” Suki screams, and Bosco roars in displeasure, probably at the noise because this is not the sort of vicious animal she would prefer to unleash on the Dai Li.

Until one of them takes a swing at him. Bosco growls in pain from a blow that rocks him back, and then...

He's no platypus bear. Those things are the angriest, most violent creatures Suki has ever encountered in her life. But Bosco is still _some_ kind of bear, and he goes full wild animal, turning into a one-ton whirlwind of furious muscle and claws. Suki rushes past him towards the throne room and reaches the doors just as they open. She jabs stiffened fingers into a guard's throat. Shouting behind her is briefly worrying, until she hears Jet's voice. Suki charges in.

There are three Dai Li in the room. One of them is restraining Jee. Suki flings her last throwing knife. It ends up in the man's throat. She dodges four rocks before Uncle and Jee are able to start working together to save her, and then Jet comes into the room with Sohi, Imbon, Shi, Bon Lin, and Wori on his heels. Jin follows, _riding_ on Bosco. 

“Your majesty, as your guard, I think it's time we left,” Suki says.

“I agree,” King Kuei says, then, looking at Jin and Bosco, “Bosco, what happened to you?”

“He did that thing that bears do where they kill people,” Jet says wryly.

“My Bosco?” King Kuei says as they start out of the palace. “No, he's too sweet!”

“Not if you piss him off,” Suki replies.

The hallway just outside the throne room is littered with evidence of the wrath of Bosco. His Majesty stares as they pass. The Dai Li is coming, but Uncle has a few tricks up his sleeve still, and he breathes a wall of fire at their attackers to cover their escape from the palace itself, and then they're into the streets.

Jet, it turns out, is really good at evading the Dai Li.

That's a skill they're probably going to have to rely on.

+

Zuko's hands are shaking, somewhere in the valley between I-can't-believe-she-fell-for-that and please-don't-let-the-Avatar-die. He's healed before. There was that time just after Omashu, and the incident with Toph and the broken wrist at the library, and all that practice with Katara and Aang, and all that learning from Yugoda, and even that time that Appa cut his paw open on those thorns. 

But this is... this is a lot more _wound_ than he's ever healed before. And yeah, Yugoda said he's one of the best healers she's ever met in her life (which is no small feat since she's almost as old as Aang and didn't spend a century in an iceberg), but Zuko's hands are still shaking.

Part of it is that this isn't even a normal burn. The scarring on Aang's back isn't the splotchy, charred blob of a firebolt. It's so much worse than that. It's _lightning._ Father can bend lightning, and Uncle can bend lightning, and Zuko knows the technique but has never succeeded in doing it, but he knows what it can do to the human body. Katara's bending water sinks into greedy, branching scorches on Aang's back.

It feels wrong. Aang's chi isn't there. The Avatar is sitting lifeless under Zuko's hands. Aang is ~~dead, and there are going to be no more airbenders ever unless Zuko can save him, it's all going to be his fault if he can't do it~~ struggling for life, and Zuko has no time for doubts, even as he massages Aang's chi to try to get it moving again. 

It's not working.

Zuko digs deeper, digs into firebending, pushes his own chi into Aang's body, and gasps at the tiniest sign of life.

He reaches for Katara's life, but she's... also still. He can feel the difference, the life around him, through his waterbending. Toph and Smellerbee are networks of chi, close by and clear. Appa is a cloud of brilliant life, with Momo darting anxiously around him.

And there are two dense pools of chi, one around his neck, and one around Katara's. Zuko reaches out and pulls on both of them. He doesn't bother to unlatch the little bottles. He just pulls, and they snap their pendants, the water in them rushes out to his hands. A gesture slices open the back of Katara's shirt, then he wraps the water around his hands, pushes it into them both, and...

The spirit water feels different. Bending it is easy, and everything it touches seems to glow and reach out for his chi. He massages life back into Aang and Katara at the same time, and they both take shallow, shuddering breaths. He pushes, chi on chi, life on life, and he hears Toph speaking next to him.

“They're alive!”

“Zuko, that's awesome,” Smellerbee says.

Zuko keeps pushing. It's exhausting, but he has to heal the wound, has to fix what his sister has done. “Sparky, they're okay now,” Toph says.

Zuko shakes his head, still pouring life into Aang and Katara. “No. I have to fix it.” His voice is shaky, his hands are shaking, something in his chest is trying to rip him open, and he wants to curl up in a ball and cry because what if it isn't enough until Sokka catches Zuko's shoulder.

“No,” Zuko says weakly. “No, I have to—” 

Sokka kisses him, flops forward onto him, pushing him back against the saddle, and Zuko's fire comes rushing back, weak, flickering with exhaustion. 

“Zuko, you did it,” Sokka whispers. “Zuko... Zuko you saved them.” He peppers kisses all up and down Zuko's face, holds him. “It's okay. Zuko, I love you. You saved my sister, Zuko.”

Katara is still deathly quiet, but there is the gentle rise and fall of her chest, and the color slowly returning to Aang's face, and Smellerbee on top of Appa's head, and Sokka holding Zuko and kissing him for all he's worth, a warm, reassuring weight on top of him.

“It's okay?” Zuko says when Sokka next lets him breathe.

Sokka nods. “It's okay. You can rest. I've got Appa. I'll get us... I'll get us to Dad's ship. I guess that's where we're going next.”

Zuko nods. His eyes slip closed. Sokka has this. Sokka is going to get them to safety.

“Perfect, beautiful Sokka,” Zuko breathes.

“Perfect, beautiful Zuko,” Sokka says. He kisses the scar over Zuko's left eye and then he's gone.

“Okay, so, ew, but also good going, Sparky,” Toph says, resting a hand on his chest. There's a few moments pause, and then she adds “also, good job bagging Snoozles. He's an idiot, but he's very crushworthy.”

Zuko catches the hand on his chest under both of his own. “He's literally my soulmate, Bandit.”

Their hand flexes against his chest, a happy twitch, probably. “I'm gonna hug you now, because nobody is watching except for Smellerbee,” Toph says. They hug him, strong arms squeezing, and he doesn't remember when they let go, but it must happen eventually. Probably after he falls asleep.

+

Azula wakes up with a pounding headache. It's almost immediately buried under the agony of a broken leg, multiple broken ribs, and what feels like maybe it's a collapsed lung.

She tries to sit up anyway. She remembers staggering away from the fight, the Kyoshi Warrior who tried to kill her. She remembers slumping against a wall, and Mai finding her.

She tries really, really hard to keep remembering that as pain stitches her whole body together.

“Lay down,” Mai says.

Azula lays down. Normally, she would fight, but circumstances... demand some adaptation.

“How bad is it?” she asks.

“You'll live,” Mai says. “You'll be able to fight again, if you're lucky. If you're not lucky...” she lets the rest stay quiet.

Azula opens her eyes. The ceiling is dark green. They're still in the Earth Palace. Her control over the Dai Li remains. “They need us if they're going to win.”

“They do,” Mai says.

“I need them if I'm going to survive,” Azula adds.

“You do,” Mai says.

“Where's Ty Lee?” Azula asks.

“Getting the soldiers in. Consolidating our power. You still think you have to kill Ozai?”

Azula nods, which makes her headache worse. “I just lost the Avatar again. I might not have even killed the Water Girl. Maybe Zuzu can get away with failing over and over, but that's going to get me killed.” ~~The skin on Azula's arm pulls and stretches wrong, it stings and prickles like a reminder of~~ shame.

At least Ba Sing Se might be enough to protect her.

But she needs more than protection.

“We're going to need a strategy,” Azula says.

“They were planning an invasion for the Day of Black Sun,” Mai says.

Azula blinks.

Maybe... maybe there's something to that idea.

She'll give it some thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who skipped Zuko's bit: He has a panic attack out of fear over Aang and Katara, and he tries to heal them both all at once. Sokka gets him out of it and soothes him before they move on.
> 
> Anyway, that's the end of part 2! Part 3's first chapter will be up in a couple of days: I need to build up a little more buffer before I start posting, or the chapter breaks will be not as I wish them to be.


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